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Coming off a second straight missed NCAA Tournament, there was one glaring need for Syracuse to avoid its third straight for the first time in program history: its faceoff unit. SU’s faceoff team wasn’t just bad in 2023, it was dreadful. The combination of Canisius transfer Johhny Richiusa and Jack Fine failed to fill the hole left by Jakob Phaup, winning just 41.2% of faceoffs — the worst mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The lack of consistent possessions never let a promising attack led by Joey Spallina and Owen Hiltz get going. Head coach Gary Gait ensured that didn’t happen in 2024. Newcomers in Division III All-American Mason Kohn from Tufts and freshman John Mullen fortified the unit, making sure the same issues didn’t plague Syracuse this season.

Working in tandem, the duo has helped SU win 59% of its faceoffs in 2024 as it clinched its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021. Kohn started taking the bulk of the reps but in recent weeks, Mullen has earned more time due to his efficiency. The freshman has improved with each performance and put together a career day against Towson when the Orange needed him most.

Facing off against Matt Constantinides — who entered with a 58% faceoff win rate — Mullen negated the second team All-Coastal Athletic Association performer. The freshman tallied career highs across the board, with 23 attempts and 18 wins along with nine ground balls as No. 4 seed Syracuse (12-5, 3-1 ACC) blew past Towson (13-4, 9-0 CAA) 20-15 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Along with his faceoff wins, Mullen added a goal and an assist. He and Kohn held Towson to its worst performance at the faceoff X (39.4%) since its opening-game loss to Johns Hopkins.

“He just showed up today, dialed in and focused. He’s an extremely competitive individual, and he wants to be successful and it showed today,” Gait said of Mullen’s performance postgame.

It’s been a gradual integration into the starting lineup for Mullen, who came in as the No. 68 overall recruit in the class of 2023, per Inside Lacrosse. Kohn, the more experienced of the two, was the obvious starting option after winning 72% of faceoffs and helping Tufts to a D-III National Championship appearance.

Through Syracuse’s opening nine games, Mullen took double-digit faceoffs twice, but there was no need for him as Kohn won 64% to that point. Yet as the year has drawn on, SU’s faceoff unit has become more of a two-headed monster, with Mullen sprinkled in more. In Syracuse’s last eight games, he’s only taken less than 10 faceoffs once, culminating in career night Sunday.

During a back-and-forth affair in the first half — in which no team led by multiple goals — Mullen was arguably Syracuse’s best player, winning nine of his first 10 faceoffs. It was rinse and repeat for the freshman, who constantly won the initial clamp and flipped the ball to himself before Towson’s wing players could get involved.

“There’s been times where he’s been on the whistle and I thought he was on the whistle today and he was winning the ball cleanly,” Gait said.

The combination of Mullen’s speed and agility along with Kohn’s rugged nature scooping up loose ground balls led to a dominant 13-for-19 effort across the first 30 minutes.

Even with the advantage at the faceoff X, Syracuse found itself down 7-6 after Bode Maurer converted a feed from Alex Roussel on the crease. Then the duo took matters into their own hands. On the ensuing faceoff, Mullen flipped the ball between his legs before Jake Stevens picked it up right in front of Towson’s sideline. Stevens took the ball the rest of the way, finishing through contact to tie the game at 7-7.

Then it was Kohn’s turn. He beat Constantinides to the ground ball on the next faceoff and turned upfield, accelerating past his counterpart as he inched toward Towson’s goal. As the slide came to Kohn, he bounced a shot past Luke Downs in net to put SU back in front 8-7.

Gait said postgame that goals from the faceoff unit are something he hopes for every game and Kohn and Mullen came up with big “momentum goals.”

Despite the momentum swing, Towson scored two goals to take a one-goal lead heading into the third quarter. But that’s when Syracuse woke up. Mullen’s win to start the second half eventually led to Finn Thomson’s equalizer.

Back-to-back goals from Michael Leo and Sam English gave the Orange the first multi-goal lead of the game with 11:08 remaining. Mullen continued Syracuse’s onslaught by winning the initial clamp and popping the ball right to himself on the next faceoff. Nobody closed Mullen down as he streaked straight through the heart of Towson’s defense for his third goal of the season and SU’s second in just six seconds.

While it wasn’t the same dominance from the first half for Mullen, he won key faceoffs and his goal was part of a 9-0 Syracuse run to open the third quarter.

“When (the faceoff unit is playing well), we start getting to kind of like a flow and …you get quarters like that,” Spallina said.

Mullen won five of the first seven faceoffs to start the fourth quarter, shutting the door on any possible Towson comeback as the Orange took care of business in a five-goal win.

A year removed from just three over 50% performances at the faceoff X, Syracuse has only won less than half on four occasions. Those contests came against All-American caliber players, like Army’s Will Coletti, Maryland’s Luke Wierman and Duke’s Jake Naso.

The only true bump in the road came on March 30 against then-No. 1 Notre Dame, where the Orange went 9-for-29. Even so, Gait revealed that Kohn was feeling “under the weather.”

Since then, Syracuse has gone over 50% each game, and though it faced a test against Towson, it passed with flying colors.

With Mullen’s impact growing as each game passes while Kohn remains a viable option, the only question remaining for the Orange is whether the unit comes up when it matters most.

One thing can be certain. The Orange have come a long way since their monumental struggles of 2023. Now, Syracuse’s unit has the potential to be a catalyst for a possible first championship weekend appearance in over a decade.

“Some days we win the faceoff battle and you know, certainly we’ve had games where we haven’t, it’s just about preparing and doing the best we can and today,” Gait said. “It went our way and hopefully that’ll continue.”

Published on May 13, 2024 at 1:49 am

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22