Maryland men’s lacrosse defeats No. 7 Syracuse in competitive overtime affair, 13-12

George Stamos weaved through Syracuse defenders as time trickled down in overtime. A Syracuse goal was waved off moments prior and now Stamos looked to take advantage.

The freshman defender fired a shot into the left corner of the net past goalkeeper Will Mark – delivering the game-winning goal in No. 4 Maryland’s 13-12 overtime victory over No. 7 Syracuse (3-1). 

Maryland (3-0) struggled to find offense in the second and third quarters and saw an 8-7 deficit entering the fourth. Braden Erksa quickly woke up the offense with a goal in the first minute. The late-game heroics continued for Erksa. The sophomore scored his fourth goal of the game a minute later.

With three minutes left, Eric Spanos watched his defender fall down and delivered a low shot that found the net. With the goal, Maryland took the lead and erased a two-goal, fourth-quarter deficit.

But the Orange found a way to answer with just one minute remaining on a goal from Christian Mule.

Holding the final possession of regulation, Maryland worked the ball into Eric Malever who shot wide left, forcing overtime. Chaos ensued minutes later in overtime as Michael Leo’s potential game-winning goal was waved off by the officials. As Leo scored his goal, he landed in the crease.

Syracuse gave the home crowd an early spark when sophomore midfielder Luke Rhoa scored on a deep shot assisted by sophomore attacker Joey Spallina.

Erksa answered three minutes later to tie the game. Erksa took a hard hit as he scored and a trio of flags flew around him for an illegal body check by Syracuse’s Billy Dwan. 

Despite being a man down, Syracuse still scored within seconds of the ensuing faceoff despite being a man down from the penalty. Faceoff specialist Mason Kohn scooped up the ball and notched a quick goal with a clear lane to the net. 

Maryland responded and took advantage of the man-down opportunity with a 4-0 run to close the first quarter ahead, 5-2. Seniors Koras, Daniel Maltz, Ryan Siracusa and Owen Murphy recorded the scores.

Syracuse tested goalie Logan McNaney early. McNaney recorded four first-quarter saves including two in the opening two minutes.

Leo scored a pair of goals late in the second quarter to cut the Syracuse deficit to one at halftime. His second goal came off just the second Maryland penalty of the half.

Maryland and Syracuse exchanged goals coming out of the halftime break. Rhoa churned a goal using his left hand while parallel to the net. The Orange continued its run, tying the game on a goal by sophomore Joey Spallina.

Midfielder Sam English added a goal of his own to give Syracuse its first lead since the first quarter. 

As Maryland’s scoring drought approached eight minutes, Koras delivered his second goal of the day. 

Throughout the scoring drought, Syracuse goalkeeper Will Mark impressed the crowd with five third-quarter saves. Mark delivered a diving save that just caught the end of his stick on a shot by Maltz.

With the win, Maryland returns home next Saturday to take on another familiar opponent in Princeton. The Terps took down Princeton 11-5 in 2023.