Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Syracuse kickstarts seven straight home games Saturday, facing Vermont for the third-time ever.

The Orange are coming off a 8-7 finish where they didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. It was the first time SU has ever missed out on the tournament in back-to-back years since first making it in 1979.

Meanwhile, the Catamounts are coming off to a 9-5 record in 2023 which ended with a 10-4 loss to UAlbany in the America East Conference tournament despite going undefeated in regular season conference play.

Here’s everything you need to know before Syracuse (0-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) faces Vermont (0-0, 0-0 America East):

All-time series

Syracuse leads 2-0.

Last time they played

The Orange opened the 2023 season against Vermont, narrowly winning 7-5. Syracuse trailed 1-0 by the end of the first quarter, but it used a four-goal second quarter to take control of the game.

SU did blow a three-goal lead in the third quarter, tying things up heading into the final period. But Jackson Birtwistle and Owen Hiltz delivered the final blows, helping Syracuse get its first win in 315 days.

“It was a good test for us,” Head coach Gary Gait said postgame, not wearing a suit for the first time in his head coaching career. “And, obviously, we’re a young team, a new team, (we) are different than what we were last year. And we got a lot of work ahead of us to improve.”

The Catamounts report

Vermont is coming off another strong performance in the America East, finishing undefeated in conference play for the second consecutive season. But its offense was mostly carried by Brock Haley and David Closterman, who finished with 52 and 49 points, respectively.

The Catamounts were one of the best defensive teams nationally, finishing the 2023 season with the 10th-best (10.29) scoring defense. In 2022, they allowed 9.21 goals per game, but starting goalie Matt Shaffer has since left the team.

Overall, their faceoff specialists, goalies and poles don’t have a lot of experience. All of Vermont’s 2023 All-Conference First Team selections have graduated.

Cindy Zhang | Digital Design Director

How Syracuse beats Vermont

A win is expected from the Orange on Saturday. This is the game to test out their depth in every position, most importantly the faceoff unit.

Everyone who followed SU’s 2023 season knew faceoffs were its biggest Achilles heel. Now, with Division III’s best faceoff specialist, Mason Kohn, and four-star freshman John Mullen, these issues should be fixed. Saturday will be the time to try out Kohn and Mullen as well as see how they work alongside new wings Jake Stevens and Sam English.

To put away any doubt about this new faceoff unit, SU should win almost 70% of battles at the X. The Catamounts are also without Tommy Burke, who recorded the third-best faceoff percentage in the country last year (64.8%).

Offensively, Syracuse might run into issues versus Vermont. The Catamounts only gave up double-digits in goals in half of their games last year. Joey Spallina also faced issues opposite its defense last year, but it was his first game in an SU uniform.

If Spallina can get going early, feeding the other returners on the attack like Michael Leo, Hiltz and Birtwistle, it should open up the field for even more new additions to score.

Stat to know: 12.13

While the Catamounts had a top defense in the country, Syracuse had one of the worst. The Orange allowed 12.13 goals per game last year, which was 44th nationally.

Gait addressed this problem in the offseason, hiring former Manhattan coach John Odierna to take over for defensive coordinator Dave Pietramala.

Replacing the greatest defensive player of all-time is a tall task, but Odierna has routinely produced the best defenses in Division I lacrosse with Manhattan. Last year, the Jaspers allowed 8.00 goals per game (the best scoring defense in the country). He’s looking to make the same changes at Syracuse.

Player to watch: Tristan Whitaker, attack , No. 23

Tristan Whitaker made the America East All-Conference Second Team last year as a freshman, finishing third in scoring with 16 goals and 11 assists. There’s no question the offense will be centered around him Saturday.

Published on January 31, 2024 at 11:44 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu