Mullen, Spallina Anchor Spirited Syracuse Win in NCAA Quarterfinals

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Joey Spallina woke up Saturday morning far more comfortable than six days earlier, when the Syracuse career points leader played his final game on campus in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Long Island native aptly made himself right at home at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium for yesterday’s quarterfinal, scoring the go-ahead goal as part of a six-point day as the sixth-seeded Orange defeated third-seeded North Carolina 13-11 before 10,244 to book a second consecutive trip to Memorial Day weekend.

“I think we were fat and happy last year, to be honest,” said Spallina, whose team lost in last year’s semifinals to Maryland after ending a 12-year final four drought. “I think there’s just a lot on the bone that’s still there.”

Finn Thomson had a hat trick and John Mullen scored twice while getting the better of Tar Heel faceoff ace Brady Wambach, as Syracuse (13-5) avenged a pair of losses earlier this season to their ACC rivals.

Tewaaraton Award finalist Owen Duffy returned from a one-game absence for the Tar Heels (13-5), shifting on and off the field while collecting a goal and an assist. Duffy was hurt in the ACC title game with what the program described as a lower-body injury and what the ESPN broadcast on Saturday referred to as a hamstring injury.

“None of the guys are feeling great, 100 percent, but this guy comes to work every day and did whatever it took to get on the field this weekend,” North Carolina coach Joe Breschi said.

Dominic Pietramala, who scored a tournament-record 10 goals in North Carolina’s tournament opening rout of UAlbany, missed his first nine shots against the Orange, finishing with two goals and an assist.

Yet most striking for North Carolina was how it couldn’t maintain its usual faceoff advantage. Wambach entered the day at 66.8 percent for the year and was held to less than 50 percent for only the second time this spring, winning 13 of 27 draws.

Mullen was 13 of 24, and his tally late in the first half in the middle of a six-goal run for Syracuse helped flip what was inching toward a rout in the other direction when the Tar Heels led 6-2.

“They made plays down the stretch that mattered, and a lot of it was transition. …,” Breschi said.  “I think for us, one of our keys was to limit their transition game, and they certainly took advantage of the ones they had.”

While the burst just before halftime got Syracuse back into it, the most pivotal goal came on another unsettled play. Senior defenseman Billy Dwan III flipped a pass while sprawling near the sideline after getting shoved by Duffy to short-stick midfielder Dante Bowen, and Bowen found Spallina with plenty of room to fire one in to make it 11-10 with 7:57 to play.

Breschi believed — and replays suggested — Dwan was out of bounds before relinquishing possession, but officials told him the play was not eligible for video review.

“I closed on it pretty fast, and I felt myself kind of leaning out of bounds,” Dwan said. “I saw it might have been out of bounds; I have no idea. Dante was calling for it, and I just said, ‘You’re either going to go out of bounds or try to make a play for him.’ Turned out to go pretty well.”

It only got better. Thomson finished off a Luke Rhoa feed with 4:01 remaining to establish a two-goal cushion, and Spallina effectively finished things on the next possession when he wound a shot around the short-stick defender marking him while Tar Heel goalie Kent Goode (seven saves) was screened by traffic in front of the cage.

It was a stellar way for the senior’s final game on Long Island to conclude. He improved to 3-0 in his college career at Hofstra and bumped his season totals to 35 goals and 50 assists. He also passed Tim Nelson atop Syracuse’s career assists list with 188.

Spallina launched the ball toward the sky with more than three seconds remaining. By the time it landed, the Orange were celebrating their 29th trip to the semifinals and a successful homecoming for their charismatic star who donned the program’s celebrated No. 22 jersey from the start of his career and proceeded to live up to massive expectations placed upon him.

“I pretty much grew up on this field,” said Spallina, who had three goals and three assists. “I was here all the time. I would skip school just to go to practice, just to be around those guys. Just to be out there, the PA guy’s voice will be forever stuck in my head.”

Spallina’s Tewaaraton Award campaign continues for another weekend, while Duffy’s body of work is complete. The junior had 31 goals and 40 goals for the Tar Heels, who were playing in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2021.

Duffy, who contended plenty with Syracuse freshman Louis D’Agostino while senior Riley Figueiras hassled Pietramala when the Orange didn’t float into a zone, shrugged off any injury concerns as North Carolina’s season concluded.

“That’s in the past,” Duffy said. “You saw the talent we had on the field against Albany. I’m super proud of how guys stepped up in that game, and I’m super proud of how they fought today.”

While North Carolina’s absence from the season’s final weekend reached a half-decade, Syracuse did what it could to further re-establish itself as a late May regular. It’s unlikely anyone will ever match the Orange’s 22-year semifinal streak from 1983-2004, but consecutive quarterfinal victories provide an echo of what the program once was.

Syracuse had dropped four consecutive quarterfinals before last year’s rollicking 19-18 victory over Princeton on the same field. And while Dwan ruefully recalled the ensuing semifinal loss to Maryland as “kind of [laying] an egg,” it was the next logical step in coach Gary Gait’s tenure.

After a forgettable debut season, the Orange improved to being an 8-7 nuisance while playing a loaded freshman class that included Spallina and Dwan. Then came a quarterfinal trip, then the semifinals.

On Saturday, Syracuse did its part to push the trend forward once again.

“I just think we’re relevant again,” Gait said. “It took a couple years, putting together a coaching staff and taking over the program five years ago. We knew where we were at. When we were 4-10, it was tough, and from there, we’ve been in the mix ever since.”