3 takeaways from Syracuse Lacrosse's 14-9 win over No. 5 Notre Dame

Syracuse, in front of 11,268 fans, the most since 2015, overcame an early deficit and rallied to defeat No. 5 Notre Dame, 14-9, at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday. It was their first win over the Fighting Irish since 2018.

Here are the key takeaways from the win.

Syracuse started in very familiar territory given their recent history against Notre Dame. The Orange fell behind by three goals, but, just before the media timeout, freshman midfielder Payton Anderson put SU on the board.

Little did Anderson or his teammates know that Syracuse was about to go on a 40-minute, 9-0 run. With the help of a challenge by head coach Gary Gait and a costly offside by Notre Dame, Syracuse held the Fighting Irish scoreless from 11:03 in the first quarter until there was just over a minute left in the third period.

Syracuse was able to complete this outstanding feat largely because of the “Junkyard Dogs,” more commonly known as the man-down defense. During the run, they shut down three man-up opportunities, including a six-on-four chance.

Notre Dame would get no closer than 3 goals in the second half.

While Syracuse dominated most of the box score, one stat stuck out.

In the last matchup against Notre Dame, Syracuse lost 20 out of 29 faceoffs. But this time around, face-off specialist John Mullen was able to dominate in the circle. He won 16 of 25 faceoffs, giving Syracuse extra scoring opportunities.

“The guys in the faceoff group, we do an amazing job working well with each other,” Mullen said. “Big shout to my wings.“

There are some on social media that believe Syracuse star attackman Joey Spallina disappears against elite teams.

That myth was shattered on Saturday, as Spallina led all players in scoring this game with four goals.

A big part of that was assistant coach Pat March's change ...