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Syracuse easily took care of its first three opponents, kickstarting the second year of the Gary Gait era with a 3-0 start. But the Orange haven’t really been challenged this season. They could either rely on a diverse scoring attack or the astute presence of Will Mark in net.

Maryland’s quest to follow up its 14-0, national championship season with similar success had gotten off to a rocky start. The loss of Tewaaraton Award-winning Logan Wisnauskas, among other producers for the Terrapins, has left Maryland’s repeat championship grandeurs mere fodder. A 15-4 win over Richmond kicked off a solid next chapter for the Terrapins under 13th-year head coach John Tillman. Then, after totaling just 26 shots, 17 of which were on goal, it fell to Loyola (Maryland) in dramatic, upset fashion.

Today, Maryland laid out 33 shots on goal and wore out a Syracuse defense that had its back against the wall since the opening minute. Johnny Richiusa won just 7-of-31 faceoffs, but the Orange were kept in the game by Mark’s 18 saves. It was close, showing the young group can hang with the best in the nation, but the Terrapins (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) proved to be too much for Syracuse (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast).

Here are some observations from the 15-12 loss:

Slow start

It took Syracuse more than three minutes to settle in and control its first possession. By then, the Terrapins had already ripped open a 3-0 lead off of five shots. The Orange were already on their heels, and were just 39 seconds into the game when Daniel Kelly caught a pass from the X and fired in a shot past Mark.

It wasn’t until around the six-minute mark that Syracuse nabbed its first shot on goal, a long attempt from Alex Simmons that backup goalie Teddy Dolan made a nice save on. In total, it took 10 and a half minutes for the Orange to settle down at College Park and create a meaningful offense. Joey Spallina found Michael Leo cutting toward the crease past his man and flipped up a shot. Leo slightly dropped his stick, now positioned near his right hip, and flicked in a shot past Dolan to put Syracuse on the board.

The Orange finished the first quarter with just one goal. What proved to be worse, though, was that it managed just five total shots, three of which came on goal. Syracuse didn’t apply pressure on Dolan, who allowed 18 goals as a Binghamton Bearcat to Syracuse in 2020.

Will Mark handles barrage of shots

Maryland was always meant to be the first test for a young Syracuse team, which shut down its first three opponents and allowed seven goals at most to UAlbany and Holy Cross in blowout wins. Even after a disappointing offensive performance against Loyola, leading to a surprising upset, the Terrapins have five players who were named either first or second-team preseason Inside Lacrosse All-Americans.

Mark faced 42 shots against UAlbany, following up a 13-save performance against Vermont with 14 saves, holding the Great Danes to just seven goals. But, after the first quarter, the Terrapins had ripped in 17 shots, 11 of which came on goal, and held a 3-1 lead over Syracuse.

After the win over Holy Cross, Mark said that because he is a tall goalie, he’s used to getting shots fired at his ankles. Toward the end of the first half, Owen Murphy spun around his defender at the top of the zone, opening up a lane down to Kelly close to the goal. Kelly went low on Mark and lifted Maryland up 8-5.

Mark entered the game with a 71% save percentage, and while he allowed 15 goals to Maryland, he continued to showcase his save skills in net. In the second quarter, Kelly had a clean shot on the left side of the net after a quick pass. Mark was behind the ball and was still facing his right, but he spun around just in enough time to stand between Kelly’s quick shot and a fourth Maryland goal. The loose ball was picked up and cleared by the Orange.

Johnny Richiusa left in the dust

Syracuse’s new faceoff specialist has held his own against the Orange’s first three nonconference opponents. He hasn’t been the best, but he’s been better than Jakop Phaup was at times last season. The Orange brought in the graduate transfer from Canisius to solidify a position that has hindered Syracuse over the last few years, as it has flipped through numerous faceoff specialists at a sometimes chaotic pace. Last season against Siena, Richiusa went 17-for-20 from the faceoff X in a game Canisius won.

Squaring off against Luke Wierman, Richiusa struggled from the start. He finished with just a 22.5% faceoff rate, hindering a Syracuse offense that ended up far behind Maryland in time of possession. In the midst of a second-quarter run from the Terrapins that gave them a comfortable lead heading into halftime, Richiusa was struggling and when Wierman won an ensuing faceoff following a goal from Murphy, Richiusa was left at the X. The senior laying on his back after getting shoved out of a faceoff win opportunity said it all.

As he jogged off with his head slumped down, Kyle Long quickly got around Carter Rice from X and spun around to give Maryland a 5-3 lead. After the Orange scored seven goals in the third quarter against UAlbany, Gait simply said it was because “Johnny (Richiusa) won every frickin’ faceoff.” But Richiusa hardly won any faceoffs against the Terrapins, and it showed as Maryland went on runs throughout, responded in kind to each SU goal and held a wire-to-wire victory.

Daniel Kelly leads the Terrapins

Maryland is trying to work out the kinks on a new team, one that is without the majority of offensive contributors that carried it to a championship last season. It can score, and the Terrapins have attackers that can pile on shots — Saturday marked the 60th-straight game with a player notching a hat trick — but it just doesn’t have that go-to guy thus far in 2023. At least, it didn’t until Kelly poured on a team-high six points off of 12 shots against Syracuse on Saturday afternoon.

Just 39 seconds into the game, Kelly had a nice feed up from X outside the left of the goal. But Rice, who ended up allowing another goal to Long via soft defense, ripped in a sidearm shot past Mark to put the Terrapins on the board. He ended up with four goals, following up a hat trick notched in Maryland’s last game against Loyola, piling on shots from long range even as the Orange applied closer pressure to him. But as the game progressed, Kelly cut inside more and was utilized more as a close-range goal scorer than someone from the outer arc of the Syracuse defense looking for a lane to shoot through.

With just a few minutes remaining in the first half, Kelly crashed in toward the crease, and Daniel Maltz — who once again found space by spinning around his man — passed in to Kelly right at the doorstep of the goal. Kelly stood face to face with Mark and paused as SU’s goalie’s eyes widened. The attack then juked left, spun his stick around and flipped a soft touch past Mark’s right side.

Published on February 18, 2023 at 3:33 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt