As we inch our way closer to the massive, No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup on Friday night in the Dome, Tuesday brought a handful of mid-week accolades for the Syracuse Orange.
Let’s start with the weekly conference
honors, where ‘Cuse swept the awards as Joey Spallina was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week with Jimmy McCool taking the ACC Defensive Player of the Week.
It’s not really a surprise that the Orange took both honors given their 20-2 demolition of St. Joseph’s on Saturday. Spallina led the way in that effort with nine points on four goals and five assists, while McCool was outstanding in net with 10 saves and an 83.3 save percentage as he backstopped a defense that surrendered only two goals to the Hawks.
SU has dominated the ACC awards in the early going this season, taking three of the four in two weeks with Johnny Mullen garnering Defensive POTW last week after going 14-for-19 (73.7 percent) with eight ground balls and a goal against BU.
On the national level, the Tewaaraton Foundation announced the initial watch list for the 2026 award, which included four Syracuse players on it.
Joey Spallina, Michael Leo, Johnny Mullen and Billy Dwan were all recognized on the watch list.
The initial list is comprised of 50 players, but it will be updated to include players who play themselves onto it as the season progresses. It’ll be updated twice during the season, with additions being made on March 5 and March 26.
Eventually, the list will be whittled down to 25 semi-finalists and five finalists.
The Orange will be back in action for their showdown with Maryland on Friday at 6 PM on the ACC Network.
