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Amid Syracuse’s early-season two-game skid that plummeted its ranking and jeopardized its spot in the NCAA Tournament, it remained No.1 in the country at one thing: turnover rate. According to Lacrosse Reference, SU leads the nation with only 60 giveaways and 12 turnovers per game.

However, Syracuse’s defense hasn’t hit the same heights in turnovers this season. The unit slotted in at 50th nationally with 17.4 forced turnovers per game entering Saturday’s matchup at Utah.

But the script was largely flipped at Rice-Eccles Stadium. No. 11 Syracuse’s (4-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) defense forced Utah (1-4, 0-0 Atlantic Sun) to turn the ball over 19 times, including seven times in the first quarter. This allowed SU to build a 7-1 first-quarter lead and an 11-1 advantage at halftime, resulting in a comfortable 15-5 win to snap its two-game losing run.

“I thought they played great,” SU head coach Gary Gait said of the defense postgame. “The D was awesome, especially in that first half to give up one goal only. Exceptional.”

Meanwhile, Syracuse’s offense ceded possession 17 times, playing uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball and went scoreless in the third quarter.

In their place, it was SU’s defense that picked up the slack. It neutralized the Utes’ preferred quick playstyle by capitalizing off sloppy giveaways. It held Utah’s Ryan Stines, who won the ASUN Player of the Year in 2024, scoreless on nine shots, with Riley Figueiras or a double-team frequently smothering him.

It allowed Jimmy McCool to have a bounceback nine-save, five-goals-allowed performance after he was benched in the third quarter versus the Crimson following conceding 10 goals.

“I thought they played well together,” Gait said of Syracuse’s defense. “I thought the matchups were great. I know Riley did a great job on his player and was awesome.”

The forced turnovers began instantaneously for the Orange. On Utah’s first possession, Zachary White couldn’t corral a pass on the right side of the goal. Syracuse couldn’t cash in.

Though on an errant clear attempt by Utah goalie Colin Lenskold, SU broke through. Lenskold blocked a Joey Spallina turnaround effort but rushed his clear attempt. It was overthrown in the direction of teammate Chase Robinson with Owen Hiltz picking up the ground ball and launching SU’s attack. The attack was concluded with a Wyatt Hottle running finish at the 11:01 mark of the first quarter.

It was faceoff wins that led to SU’s next three goals, extending its lead to 4-0 by the 8:47 mark of the first. When Utah did gain possession, it didn’t hold onto it for long. It played too quickly for its own good, surrendering the ball for the Orange to profit off of.

After winning the faceoff, Utah’s John Krueger tried to carry the ball into Syracuse’s attacking zone. But Sam English quickly poked the ball out of Kruger’s stick and SU defender Michael Grace picked up the ground ball.

The Orange won the ground ball battle 33-22 Saturday. Utah had a chance to halve SU’s deficit to 4-2, as Stines attempted to dish it to Luke McNamara, who was open to the right of the crease. But Stines’ pass was overzealous and flew past McNamara, preventing the scoring opportunity.

Minutes later, under duress by SU’s defenders, Mikey Crane tried to swing the ball to Stines, but his pass was errant and Grace grabbed the ground ball. Syracuse went down on the other end and made it 5-1 via Michael Leo.

Following a blocked Leo shot, the Utes again couldn’t secure the clear. The Orange capitalized on the favorable field position as Hottle scored his second goal of the game to make it 6-1 with 3:35 to go in the first quarter.

Syracuse only forced three turnovers in the second quarter, but Utah still couldn’t make anything happen offensively against SU’s stifling defense. Stines tried to find an angle on Figueiras early in the quarter but had no shooting window and instead fired an effort off the mark. Soon after, Tyler McCarthy forced Utah’s Jonas Hunter to cede possession.

Stines’ frustrating day continued. As soon as he ventured close to the net, Figueiras closed him down. The junior attack tried to shake Figueiras but frequently walked into more SU defenders, as he did less than five minutes into the second quarter.

Even as Syracuse’s offense went quiet in the second half, going scoreless in the third quarter, its defense remained suffocating. It forced two Utes shot clock violations in the third and two more in the fourth.

Stines continued to spearhead the Utes’ attack and found no success. As he drove inside trying to get going with under six minutes remaining in the third, he walked backward into a hive of four SU defenders, falling to the turf and coughing up the ball.

Every time the Utes held possession, Syracuse’s defense closed in, leaving little room to operate. Despite the 2,000-plus-mile road trip, SU adapted to pull out the decisive win. The Orange traveled so well that they embodied Utah’s Beehive State nickname with their swarming defense.

“(We were) focusing on one possession at a time, doesn’t matter if it’s 0-0, 15-5, we’re winning, we’re losing, it shouldn’t matter,” Figueiras said. “We just slide, recover, do our job.”

Published on March 1, 2025 at 7:08 pm

Contact Nicholas: njalumka@syr.edu | @nalumkal