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Syracuse added its third defensive transfer in three weeks when former Furman defender Cole Horan announced Wednesday night that he’ll join the Orange, according to Chris Jastrzembski.

Horan, a junior from Floral Park, New York, started all seven games for the Paladins in 2020, leading them in ground balls and caused turnovers with 15 and eight, respectively. In his two previous seasons at Furman, Horan recorded 44 ground balls — including a career-high nine against North Carolina in 2019 — and caused 17 turnovers.

Furman cut its men’s lacrosse program on May 18 due to financial impacts from the coronavirus pandemic, and Horan became available for a transfer. The Paladins finished 1-6 in the shortened season, including three losses to ranked opponents.

Syracuse will be without top cover defender Nick Mellen, who was drafted by the Boston Cannons, as well as long-stick midfielder Jared Fernandez, who transferred to Johns Hopkins. However, the No. 1 Orange will return Brett Kennedy — who filled in the top cover role when Mellen was injured — along with Grant Murphy and Nick DiPietro. Kennedy played long-stick midfielder in 2019, and could slide back to the original role he was recruited to play.

“If we were playing tomorrow, you would see Kennedy down low and it probably will stay there,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said during a Zoom call on May 7.

Horan joins former Gettysburg defender Mitch Wykoff and Utah defender Nick Hapney as offseason additions at defense, giving the Orange another option to fill those gaps.

Published on May 27, 2020 at 9:09 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew