Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

GENEVA, N.Y. — For the first time all season, Syracuse faced a true road test against a familiar foe. For the 109th time, Syracuse matched up with Hobart as the two teams battled Saturday for the Kraus-Simmons trophy.

The Orange entered on one of their best stretches in recent memory. SU defeated then-No. 2 Johns Hopkins 14-13 in a neutral site game before securing an eight-goal victory over Delaware. And most recently, it picked up a 10-4 win over No. 4 Duke. The Orange held the Blue Devils’ offense — also the nation’s best — to their lowest scoring total since 2012. Reigning Tewaaraton winner Brennan O’Neill had just one goal on 11 shots.

Standing in SU’s way of five straight wins was Hobart. Sam English scored to give SU a 6-5 lead at halftime before the Orange, which featured eight different goal scorers, separated themselves in the second half.

Here are some observations from No. 6 Syracuse’s (9-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 13-7 win against Hobart (3-5, Atlantic 10 Conference)

Deere makes an appearance

Trey Deere’s played sparingly throughout SU’s season so far, only appearing in four games when the Orange were up by a sizable margin. Deere was the Orange’s top-rated freshman, ranked No. 17 by Inside lacrosse. Despite not playing much this season, he received his first collegiate start Saturday when SU attacker Owen Hiltz was surprisingly sidelined. Hiltz was listed as a starter but never stepped onto the field.

Deere wasted no time getting in on the action, dodging from the middle and ripping a low lefty shot saved by Hobart’s Elhanan Wilson. With the game tied at 2-2, Joey Spallina dodged along the near sideline and hit Deere at the top of the defensive zone. Without a defender near him, Deere fired home his first career goal to give SU its first lead of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Deere recieved another chance on a pass from Michael Leo at the crease. He attempted a twister finish but was unsuccessful. Later in the fourth, Deere collected a feed from English to rip home his second goal of the game to put the Orange up 12-7 with less than six minutes remaining.

Joey Spallina scoreless again

Against Duke on Wednesday, Spallina was held scoreless for just the second time in his career. And though he didn’t necessarily play badly against Hobart, Spallina failed to find nylon Saturday.

Facing lesser competition this season, Spallina has feasted, including a career-high seven goals against High Point and a 10-point performance against Manhattan. Saturday was a different story. He wasn’t involved much in SU’s offensive sets with the Orange operating more from the wings instead of finding him at X.

When Spallina did receive the ball, he tried forcing the issue but failed to make his usual impact. In the third quarter, he swerved around goal with possession and looked for cutters in front. But Spallina was tightly guarded by Brady Comella and his searching pass for Finn Thompson went awry. A couple minutes later he attempted a behind-the-back shot from a tight angle, but missed wide and Christian Mulé was beaten to the endline on the follow-up attempt.

Even with Spallina’s shortcomings, Syracuse’s attack still found a rhythm. Three goals in the fourth quarter, helped the Orange pull away and win comfortably in the end.

Man up defense

A loose ball in the first half led to a check by Billy Dwan along the Syracuse sideline, but the hit was deemed illegal and drew a flag. While Anthony Detalles was on the ground, Caden Kohl tried jarring the ball loose with a check, but was called for a slash meaning Syracuse would be down two players.

On man-down scenarios, the Orange bring in a fresh set of defenders. They entered Saturday as the 14th best man-down defense in the country, killing 22-of-30 opportunities. SU’s man-down defense was tested early against the Statesmen. Almost immediately Hobart tried feeding the ball inside Syracuse’s zone, but a pass from Anthony Dattellas was short.

Two minutes later, Nathan LeVine was called for an offsides infraction, giving Hobart another man-up chance. But similar to the first opportunity, it didn’t provide much danger. The Statesmen passed the ball around the perimeter to get in a rhythm before Chris Patterson fired a shot wide. Dattellas then tried his luck from distance but was easily thwarted by Will Mark in net.

Hobart got another crack in the third quarter when Thomson was called for slashing. This time, the Statesmen converted with James Greene feeding Will Delano on the right wing who fired past Mark.

Help from the poles

Coming off of its best defensive performances of the season against Duke, Syracuse’s long poles were confident. Although the Orange did play some lockdown defense against the Statesmen’s stingy attack, it was their transition offense which provided SU with some juice.

In the frigid conditions, Syracuse’s offense was sloppy at times and went through a 11-minute drought in the second quarter. But leading 4-3 early in the second quarter, Saam Olexo led a break, throwing the ball ahead to Dwan who winded one up and fired past Wilson in net for his third goal of the season. After Dwan’s finish, the Orange were aggressive with their poles on the break.

After English and Mulé scored to put the Orange up 9-5, Dwan and Olexo were at it again.

Olexo picked up one of his game-high six ground balls and weaved through a couple of defenders before picking his head up to seed Dwan sprinting up the field. The defender was closed down but shimmied to his right and fired home his second goal of the afternoon.

The Orange extended their advantage from then on and didn’t need to push the ball quickly up the field. SU slowed things down in the fourth quarter, but Dwan and Olexo’s defense and transition offense provided Syracuse with a much-needed spark.

Published on March 23, 2024 at 6:39 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22