We’re just a few days away from the first official game week of college lacrosse season, and on Thursday, Syracuse head coach Gary Gait met the media for the first time in 2026.
He covered a number of topics related to the upcoming campaign, starting with the previous day’s news of junior Trey Deere
’s car accident from last month on the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in Quebec, Canada, where he is from.Those remarks were brief, though he did officially confirm that Deere will be out for the season, saying:
“I think it’s out there that Trey was in an accident, and that he has a lower-body injury, and he’s gonna be out for the year…He’s handling it and taking care of his business, and we’ll get you an update down the road”.
Deere’s injury and absence naturally brings up questions about putting the pieces together for the offense, especially in regards to replacing Owen Hiltz and Sammy English from last year’s starting lineup. Gait kept it very coy in discussing how they will approach replacing Hiltz as the starting lefty attackman, saying:
“We’ve got a couple options down there…so we utilized a bunch of people in the fall, and you’ll see kind of what we do come the first game of the year”.
Asked and answered. We’ll just have to wait until February 1 against Boston University to see what they’ve done with the lineup.
One player who will be very intriguing to see, especially with where and how he’ll be utilized after a successful debut season, is sophomore Payton Anderson, who scored 14 goals and 17 points while appearing in 15 games as a freshman. Gait was asked specifically about “Bear”, as he’s nicknamed, and had this to say:
“He’s definitely a strong part of the offense. You know, we’ve always kind of prided ourselves on guys being able to play anywhere…kind of a position-less offense at times…He’s got the confidence. I think he finished the season strong last year and came back…a lot more confident, eager and ready to go”.
Anderson gave ‘Cuse fans a lot to be excited about with his playmaking in relatively limited opportunities last year, and he might just be the top candidate to make a big jump this year now that there’s more playing time available.
As for a player with a bit more experience, Joey Spallina, Gait was asked about the pressure of expectations on his star given all the preseason accolades (like being named USA Lacrosse’s preseason Attackman and Player of the Year) and the fact that he’s now a senior captain of this team. He responded:
“We just want Joey to be Joey. He’s a natural leader in how hard he works and the things he does on and off the field. We’ve been working hard with him to handle the pressure and put that out of his mind, and not force things and just play the game. I thought he did a nice job of it last year, for the most part, and now that he’s a captain I think it’s even more important that he just play the game and he does ‘Joey things’ when he needs to and don’t put any extra pressure on himself to try and win games or do whatever he needs to do. He just needs to be a good teammate and a good player and I know he’s very prepared to do that”.
I found it interesting that multiple times in that response, Gait brought up the idea of Joey not forcing things and letting the game come to him. He does seem to be at his best when he’s not trying to force plays and let’s it all flow together with his teammates.
The pressure and spotlight are somehow going to be increased this year as he’s now a senior and most people’s preseason favorite for the Tewaaraton, and clearly Gait wants him to put that out of his mind and focus on being himself and making the plays he needs to make within the offense. And he certainly feels No. 22 will be able to handle that, adding:
“You’re gonna see some tremendous games from him this year. He wants one thing, and that’s to win, so he’ll do whatever it takes. If it means doing less to get more, I’m sure he’d be happy to do that”.
Joey’s not the only one that’s going to be feeling the pressure, as the highly-touted Class of 2022 has now arrived at their final chance (those of them that haven’t used a redshirt) to bring a title back to the 315. On how his seniors are approaching their final spring, Gait said:
“These guys want it bad. They came here with the mindset they want to win a national championship, so they’ve put a little bit of that pressure on themselves, but I think they haven’t looked at it as pressure really but more as an opportunity. This is another opportunity to chase that dream and that goal of a national championship”.
He also referred to his team as “dialed in, focused and driven” in reference to chasing that national title.
There was one other piece of injury news to add, about sophomore defender Cam Ryan. Cam, who was in the mix to challenge for playing time on close defense this year, has a lower-body injury and is out indefinitely. Gait said he did not have a time period for the injury, but also that he doesn’t believe he’s out for the year.
Gait was also asked multiple times about their difficult schedule, and had this to say:
“The schedule was put together to challenge ourselves, make sure we played teams that provided strong RPI…I like it. I think for this year it’s a great schedule and it’s what we needed if we want to make a run at the end”.
And in reference to that six-game road trip in the middle of the season, he didn’t miss a beat, saying:
“…people always complain that we don’t play enough on the road, so now’s our chance to prove that we can do that and do it well”.
That’s right, Gary. The theme of this season, and the program at large, is dealing with the pressure of expectations. But Gait preferred to use the word ‘opportunity’ rather than ‘pressure’ during this media session, and neither he nor his team are shying away from it.
