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Syracuse-Johns Hopkins. It’s a rivalry steeped in history, dating back to 1921. It has pedigree, with 59 National Championships combined and 13 postseason meetings. It has icons — Jim Brown, Gary Gait, Paul Gait and Mikey Powell for the Orange; Dave Pietramala, Paul Rabil and Kyle Harrison for the Blue Jays. And little separates the two squads, as JHU has a 32-29 edge in the series with one tie and the schools are 5-5 in their last 10 meetings.

A win in the rivalry has shifted seasons. In 2023, JHU had lost three of seven games before beating SU 11-9, then lost just once more in the regular season. A year later, Syracuse defeated JHU 14-13 after two overtime losses earlier in the season, part of a five-game win streak, including three ranked victories.

The Orange entered Sunday’s game following a bumpy start to the season, marked by consecutive losses to current-No. 1 Maryland and current-No. 12 Harvard. Another loss would give Syracuse almost no margin for error to reach the NCAA Tournament.

SU played like it wouldn’t lose again, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first six minutes. But its inability to win faceoffs early allowed Johns Hopkins to pull ahead. Then, the game slowed down in the second quarter. But the Orange found an offensive burst with three goals in 51 seconds to grab a 9-8 lead heading to the fourth quarter. And, in the final quarter, they put the game away with another three-goal run.

Here are some observations from No. 11 Syracuse’s (5-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 13-10 win over No. 7 Johns Hopkins (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten) Sunday:

Syracuse offense mostly flat without Thomson

Uncertainty surrounded Syracuse junior attack Finn Thomson’s status in the week leading up to Sunday’s matchup. According to head coach Gary, he felt discomfort in his wrist against Utah and exited that game early. Gary didn’t provide any update on Thomson’s status in the multifarious interviews he did this week. In the hours before game time, an SU Athletics spokesperson said Thomson was “alive” and his status was day-to-day.

It took until minutes before the opening faceoff for the starting lineup to confirm sophomore attack Trey Deere started in place of Thomson in attack, as the junior was on the sideline in street clothes sporting a sling on his left arm.

Deere’s first major contribution was understated yet integral. He gathered a ground ball to keep Syracuse’s attack going, which resulted in an Owen Hiltz goal to extend the Orange’s early lead to 3-0.

Without Thomson, the Orange lacked a lethal presence off of cuts to receive passes from X. A frequent target of passes from Joey Spallina, Syracuse struggled to get its offense going in Thomson’s absence. It tried out different options, including Tyler Cordes, who scored his first goal of the season in the second quarter. The offensive sputtering was evident in the second quarter, where SU only mustered one goal and two shots on target.

The inaccuracy continued into the second half, as SU snapped a near-15 minute scoring drought. Though it unleashed three goals in the final two minutes of the third quarter. And it did enough to win in the fourth quarter, annulling its soporific play in the middle of the contest.

Rapid Syracuse Start

It took nearly four minutes for the Orange to get on the board on March 1 at Utah, but they wasted no time breaking the deadlock Sunday versus the Blue Jays. After stonewalling JHU’s first possession, SU’s Billy Dwan raced upfield. Dwan couldn’t convert his coast-to-coast charge as he stumbled on the doorstep. Yet Spallina quickly grabbed the loose ball and fired it into the net just over a minute into proceedings.

Though Johns Hopkins won the next faceoff, Syracuse completed another stop, and Michael Leo capitalized on its possession to make it 2-0 under two minutes in as his falling effort struck the back of the net.

The Orange’s authoritative start also stemmed from their defense. Despite losing the first seven faceoffs, SU’s defense initially held strong, not allowing clear shooting windows early for the Blue Jays. It took until almost the midway mark of the first quarter for JHU to score its first goal.

But it couldn’t sustain it, as the Blue Jays kept winning faceoffs and eventually broke through the tiring Syracuse defense. In the waning minutes of the first and early second quarter, the pace slowed to a sloth’s pace, befitting JHU’s trademark languid playstyle.

Faceoffs rebound from early falters

Sunday’s contest presented a top-tier matchup at the faceoff X. SU’s John Mullen entered the contest with the fourth-highest faceoff winning percentage in the country at .664. His compatriot, Johns Hopkins’ Logan Callahan held the 18th-highest winning percentage at .588.

However, once the game started, it was all Callahan. The Blue Jays man won the first seven faceoffs, as SU was forced to swap in Drew Angelo twice in search of a boost at the X after Mullen was called for faceoff violations. The dominance in the circle propelled JHU to embark on a four-goal run after falling behind 3-0 to start the game. That first-quarter run made up for four of Johns Hopkins’ 10 goals in the game.

After going 2-for-4 in the second quarter, Mullen won the first six faceoffs of the second half but didn’t see much action as the pace and scoring slowed down. Johns Hopkins swapped out its faceoff man to Joe Hobot following Mullen’s fifth win, but his dominance continued, propelling SU’s late-third-quarter scoring explosion. He finished the third quarter 6-for-7, getting whistled on the final faceoff of the quarter.

Ultimately, the faceoff battle was tied at 13-13, but SU’s second-half success paved the way for the victory.

Photo Finish

The frisson Syracuse goals set up an enthralling fourth quarter to allow either team to notch the rivalry win. JHU’s Matt Collison brought the Blue Jays level less than a minute into the final quarter. After the play, Syracuse’s starting defender Michael Grace was injured and was helped off by SU’s staff.

Hiltz regained its lead at 10-9 when he finished a backdoor cut past Johns Hopkins goalie Luke Staudt with just over eight minutes left. That was quickly answered by Charlie Iler rifling a shot on the move past Jimmy McCool right at the midway mark of the fourth quarter to tie things back up. The two teams kept trading blows as Luke Rhoa blasted a shot past Staudt on the right side to regain the Orange’s lead.

Then, 30 seconds later, Hiltz connected on the move to bolster SU’s cushion to two goals. A Leo laser at the 2:59 mark sent the JMA Wireless Dome into raptures and signaled Syracuse would gather a significant win to boost its NCAA Tournament resume.

Published on March 9, 2025 at 4:38 pm

Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal