College Lacrosse Game of the Week: No. 11 Syracuse Orange vs. No. 7 Johns Hopkins

The college lacrosse season is in full swing, and we are seeing some of the best matchups coming up.

This week's game of the week sees the No. 11 Syracuse Orange welcome in the No. 7 ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.

The Orange have had a solid season so far, as they are 4-2 and coming off a win to Utah. They were unlucky two weeks ago as they fell by one goal to Harvard.

The Blue Jays have had a great start to the season, as they are 5-1. In their last game, they defeated Virginia 13-12 but lost to the University of North Carolina the week before for their only loss of the season.

The two teams have played 62 matchups all-time. Hopkins has the lead as they have won 32 games, while Syracuse has won 29. The Orange do have a winning record over the Jays at home at 11-10-1.

The two teams played last season, and Syracuse came away with a win by a score of 14-13.

This season, Syracuse is led in points by star Joey Spallina. The junior has been a star for the Orange since day one and continues to show how good he is. He has 32 points on the season and his best game came against Vermont, where he had 10 points in the game eight of which came in the first half.

Along with Spallina, the Orange have found offense in other places Owen Hiltz leads the team in goals with 15 and don’t let Finn Thomson shoot as he has scored on 51.9% of his shots.

The game starts at the faceoff X and Syracuse has dominated winning 101 faceoffs to their opponents' 60 faceoff wins.

Hopkins will need to limit Syracuse's man-up opportunities as they are 53.3% on the man-up.

Cuse’s defense has been great this year causing 62 turnovers and clearing the ball 91% of the time.

Goaltending hasn’t been the greatest this season as Jimmy McCool has posted a 7.62 Goals Against Average and a .588 save percentage.

Hopkins is led in points by Russell Melendez, who has 22 this season. Melendez transferred in from Marquette and was outstanding for the Jays in his first season, scoring 37 goals and 53 points in 2023. It was a down year last year, as he only had 19 goals and 27 points.

While they have been as good as the Orange at the faceoff X, the Blue Jays have been solid winning 81 faceoffs to their opponents' 68.

Hopkins' defense has been solid but not as good as Syracuse's turnover as they have only caused 43 turnovers this season.

Hopkins has not gotten the best Goaltending this year as Luke Staudt has a 9.83 Goals Against Average and a .473 save percentage.

Despite the goaltending struggles, Hopkins has still had a good season.

This is a huge matchup between two of the best lacrosse teams in the country.

Opening faceoff is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, March 9.

Andrew Matz is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email atm5759@psu.edu.