Joey Spallina Delivered Everything but a Championship to Syracuse

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Joey Spallina will leave Syracuse as its all-time leader in both points and assists, and he’ll be remembered for his charisma in leading the Orange back from a more than decade-long absence from Memorial Day weekend.

But the thing he really went to central New York to do, to take Syracuse back to the pinnacle of college lacrosse, is a dream that will be left unfulfilled.

The Tewaaraton finalist had no goals and two assists as the sixth-seeded Orange (13-6) bowed out of the NCAA tournament with a 15-7 loss to second-seeded Notre Dame at Scott Stadium. It was Syracuse’s second consecutive exit on the final Saturday of the season.

Those were the Orange’s first two appearances in the final four since 2013, major steps for a program that bottomed out at 4-10 the year before he arrived on campus with the hopes of delivering a national championship.

“Sadly, I lied, frankly,” Spallina said. “I said I was going to bring it back and win a championship and obviously we didn’t get it done. It’s the way sports is and the way life is. Luckily enough for myself, I get to keep playing the sport that I love [in the PLL]. Not luckily enough, I don’t get to do it wearing a Syracuse jersey. I love this place and I’d do anything for it. There were some rough patches where I was thinking about other things, but screw all that stuff. There’s nowhere else I would have rather played.”

Spallina is the rare uber-hyped recruit who more or less delivered on the considerable buzz that accompanied him to a high-end destination. He delivered 36 goals and 32 assists as part of a lauded freshman class, then went on to register three consecutive 50-assist seasons on the back end of his career.

His consistency was a hallmark. He scored between 35 and 37 goals in each of his four seasons. And his point totals over the last three years were 88, 90 and 87.

Spallina did it all while donning the program’s most famous jersey, one that his coach wore while leading Syracuse to three consecutive national titles from 1988-90.

As the New 22, Spallina played in three NCAA tournaments and broke the school’s points record (finishing with 333, 26 clear of Mike Powell) earlier this season. He clipped Tim Nelson’s assists mark in last week’s quarterfinals and finished with 190, three ahead of the mid-1980s star.

“It’s been fun to watch Joey grow up as a young man and really become a great leader for this team,” Gait said. “That’s just being a great teammate. The fact that he wore 22 while doing it just added pressure to it. But his character came out. He put the team first. And he did a great job representing the university. The number is just a number. He was proud to wear it, and we’re going to miss him.”

His final game was a daunting matchup against Notre Dame defenseman Shawn Lyght, another Tewaaraton finalist. Spallina had three goals and an assist earlier in the year against Notre Dame but struggled against the technically proficient Irish junior.

“He’s a great player, so it’s fun playing against him,” Lyght said. “You can’t try to take everything away from him. You have to try to limit whatever you can. Fortunate enough we were able to do that today and that really helped us build the lead.”

Added Notre Dame goalie Thomas Ricciardelli: “Shawn’s never going to say that he absolutely shut him down, but he did.”

While the Irish play on for the title Spallina and the Orange craved, Syracuse is left to reflect on the impact of the Spallina era.

Some of it can be measured in goals and assists. Some of it will be harder to quantify. There’s plenty to be said for the eagerness he evoked in young fans, some of whom Spallina signed autographs for after the game before returning to the locker room.

There won’t be championship banner hanging in the Dome to recall Spallina’s accomplishments. But that doesn’t mean he’s lacking a legacy at the college level.

“It’s an absolute honor to play here and to play for Coach Gait and the incredible organization that Syracuse lacrosse is,” Spallina said. “I know not many people call their college programs organizations, but it’s just the way Cuse is. I said when I was coming here, we were going to bring Cuse back and we were going to do the right things. We obviously weren’t all the way there, and it sucks.”