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Two uncharacteristic Joey Spallina turnovers led directly to Army’s first two scores of the game.

The first pass Spallina tried to force through the defense was from X and picked off cleanly by Army’s AJ Pilate. On the other end, Jacob Morin answered immediately with a low-to-high rocket from the outside, assisted by Reese Burek. The goal occurred just 17 seconds after Spallina’s turnover, catching the Orange’s defense sleeping on their slides.

Minutes later, Spallina tried to thread the needle again, only to achieve the same result. His skip pass was snatched by Ned Lynch, who celebrated emphatically near the sideline as the ball was cleared. Twenty-one seconds later, Burek had found the back of the net to tie the game at 3-3.

By the end of the first half, Spallina totaled three turnovers, more than he had in all of SU’s first four games. Two of them resulted in quick points for the Black Knights, and Syracuse’s offense was sluggish out of the gate as a result of Spallina’s ineptitude. He’s now tallied no goals in the first half against both ranked opponents SU has faced and had zero first-half shots Wednesday.

“I think he’d like to have a do-over on it,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said. “There’s just so much pressure on him right now. It makes it so difficult when a young player like that has that incredible pressure. So we have to help him figure out the keys to success… He’s going to figure it out in these tough games. I believe in him.”

No. 7 Syracuse (4-2, 0-0 ACC) fell 14-13 in overtime to No. 5 Army (4-0, 0-0 Patriot League) behind a struggling Spallina. In his stead, other Syracuse playmakers stepped up to compete against the 10th-best scoring defense in the nation, but to no avail. Sam English scored three unassisted, first-half sweepers on the same concept, while Finn Thomson added an alley-oop score and an assist. Jackson Birtwistle and Christian Mulé added a hat trick each, but SU’s offense fell flat in the second half, losing its second-straight overtime game to a ranked opponent.

English started the scoring by clearing Thomson and his defender before stepping down from straight ahead. The Orange drew first blood just over a minute into the game and the Princeton transfer set his Syracuse career-high in goals after totaling just five to start the year.

“(English) was dodging hard, he was going to the goal, and I think that provided opportunities,” Gait said. “He came out ready to play today… He played everywhere today.”

The Orange offense registered seven more shots and five more shots on goal than the Black Knights in the first half. SU’s four extra ground balls made a difference in getting some of those off, and none more so than Thomson’s putback. It was a product of the same exact concept that gave English three scores in 30 minutes.

After taking the pick, English’s shot from the wing was saved low. But when it bounced up into the air, Thomson sprang into action for the ricochet to give Syracuse a 3-2 lead.

“I thought Syracuse liked some of their other matchups better,” said Army head coach Joe Alberici on how Spallina was limited. “Watching Joey in the first five games, he was really attacking the cage a lot, a little bit more than what you saw today. I think they liked their matchup for Sam English. He seemed really energized today and was going to the goal a little bit more than what we had seen in the past.”

The Thomson-English two-man game was virtually unstoppable. It became the bread-and-butter of SU’s offense once it was clear that Spallina would be less of a factor.

Yet, despite the wide array of offensive supplements, it seemed like Mulé provided all of the “wow” factor. In the second quarter, Mulé tight-roped the crease line to finish his shot — with no angle — by shoveling it overhead as he fell to the turf. He gave Syracuse its first lead since the middle of the first quarter.

In the second half, Army’s Pilate was draped on Spallina as usual, and the sophomore standout continued to struggle. He failed to get topside multiple times from X and passed out consistently. Spallina only registered one shot through three quarters, which was saved by Matt Chess.

Spallina did get in on the feeding action, though, adding to his nation-leading assist tally (22). Off the dodge, Michael Leo’s feed to Mulé was deflected toward Spallina, who adjusted quickly for a pop pass to Mulé. As the Lehigh transfer closed in on the goal line extended, Mulé wrapped the shot behind his head and off the turf.

Yet, when it mattered most, Spallina just couldn’t be replicated. The offense went stale midway through the third quarter. The two-man game wasn’t saving them either. SU turned the ball over six times in the third, and Army outscored it 5-3, similar to the first period. In both quarters, Spallina had costly turnovers that seemed to lend the Black Knights some momentum.

“We need to help him a little bit more, putting him in positions to get some more opportunities and have some success,” Gait said of Spallina. “I trust him and it’s going to happen for him.”

Syracuse trailed for the majority of the final period and was down by one with four minutes remaining. Even its most reliable concept from the first half felt futile in the fourth. Just like the Orange done countless times before, English took a pick from Thomson on the left wing to get to his spot in the middle of the field. This time, Chess met it in the bottom corner, and the Black Knights retained their lead.

When the Orange are in crunch time, that’s usually when Spallina shines brightest. But this time, Gait called on Owen Hiltz. From the left wing, Hiltz rolled back to get to the middle and his sidearm runner slotted just inside the left post to tie it up 13-13 with 2:28 remaining.

A heroic save from Will Mark with mere seconds left on the clock was Syracuse’s saving grace and forced a second overtime finish in its last three games.

Overtime didn’t improve Spallina’s performance. His fifth shot of the game was a behind-the-back missile off a dodge from X, which sailed over the cage and gave Army the ball back.

Miraculously, SU forced a turnover, but Mulé missed an open-net shot from the 40-yard line. Jackson Eicher scored the game-winner on the ensuing possession and Syracuse players dropped to the turf, having just dropped their second overtime heartbreaker in the Dome in the last three games.

Published on February 28, 2024 at 8:44 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu