Who cares that the current snow totals are being measured in feet? It’s lacrosse season, baby!
That’s right, it’s officially the first game week of the 2026 season for the Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse
team, who face the No. 17 Boston University Terriers this Sunday, February 1 at 1 PM in the JMA Dome.
As we count down the moments to face-off, let’s take a look at the prospects for the Orange offense in 2026.
Let’s start with the known. ‘Cuse returns a core of four starters from last year’s 11th ranked offense (13.58 goals per game), all of them seniors. That veteran core is made up of Joey Spallina (35G, 55A), Finn Thomson (23G, 7A), Michael Leo (32G, 12A) and Luke Rhoa (27G, 6A). That’s a top four on offense that I would say compares favorably with just about every team in the country given their combination of disparate skill sets and overall experience.
But the key to success on offense lies in a team’s ability to active their depth to help them make a deep run to Memorial Day weekend. And while most of the questions about Syracuse’s offense this winter have focused on who will replace Owen Hiltz as the third attack spot on this team, I personally feel the issue of midfield depth is a more important one for getting this team to where they want to go this season.
The Orange enter into 2026 with plenty of questions about who can and will make up that depth as they try to chase down their first national title since 2009, especially in the wake of the two huge departures of Hiltz and Sammy English.
Those two combined for 27 percent of SU’s offensive production last season, and that’s before you take into account the loss of their intangibles like Owen’s late-game heroics or Sammy’s do-everything impact.
The job of replacing them and filling in the gaps for this offense got harder with last week’s reporting of Trey Deere’s season-ending injury as Trey was last year’s top point-producer (19G, 2A) outside of the starting lineup, including being the team’s top finisher on the man-up (7G).
So, where does that leave us? Well, let’s look at the math. If we assume that over the long-haul, fifth-year head coach Gary Gait will be needing to fill the spaces for a starting attack, starting midfield and second-line midfield, that adds up to nine primary offensive spots available, with a few overflow spots to rotate in for certain midfield shifts.
Since we know there are four obvious locks from the four seniors, that leaves us with five primary spots to be filled in for the regular rotation. So, who among the younger players is ready to level up in the Orange offense?
It definitely starts with Payton Anderson (14G, 3A), coming off an impressive freshman season in which he showcased a unique blend of speed, power, athleticism and stick skills that left quite the impression on ‘Cuse fans after he made the most of relatively limited playing time to produce 14 goals on just 31 shots (45.2 percent).
‘Bear’ has already shown an ability to dodge from the left side GLE to finish around the crease, utilizing his strength and shiftiness to do so. With that being the case, he seems, in my opinion, to be the preferred candidate to take over the left-side attack position from Hiltz. Michael Leo would be the other most likely contender for that spot to join Spallina and Finn on attack, but personally I’d rather keep Leo at midfield to keep that 1-2 punch with Rhoa on the first line and have Bear join the attack.
Up next, SU has two second-line middies from last year returning in Tyler McCarthy (4G, 5A) and Wyatt Hottle (7G, 5A). While neither exactly lit up the stat sheet, both should have a solid chance to factor in to the rotation again. Hottle’s speed and quickness are true weapons, especially for a team that has been in need of players to break down a defense off the dodge.
McCarthy, meanwhile, could capitalize on his abilities as an all-around midfielder. He’s a solid ground ball presence as an offensive short-stick, as his 17 GBs last year were the most on the team by an offensive middie outside of English. He could be a candidate to pick up the slack on some of Sammy’s miscellaneous duties such as playing as a wing on face-offs.
Now, we’ve come to the unproven (at the collegiate level) portion occupied by the freshman and redshirt freshmen and sophomores who are competing to earn their first real playing time in an Orange uniform.
One of the top contenders in this category is Matt McIntee, who sat out his freshman year while rehabbing an injury. The reports were that McIntee turned heads during fall ball, so it sounds like he’ll be getting some run out of the box in his second year on campus.
Charlie Kraftson is in his third year in the program and has the versatility to play anywhere on the offense. He made a few noteworthy plays during the fall scrimmages that helped to put his name on the radar. Owen O’Farrell saw action in three games last year at attack, but is listed as ‘A/M’ on the roster. Greg Elijah-Brown should definitely figure into the man-up unit after scoring five EMO goals last year, but could he factor into the six-on-six in any way?
As for the true freshmen, Bogue Hahn is the highest-rated of the group as a Top 20 ranked midfielder out of McDonogh, while Ted Rawson is a Canadian lefty who went to the Lawrenceville School and Jake Meyer is a 6’2” attackman from Georgia.
However these rotation spots shake themselves out, one thing is clear: this ‘Cuse team will need a couple of these guys to emerge as threats who can draw the attention of an opposing defense.
The star power of this offense is immense and productive in a hugely significant way, but they will need the impact of a strong supporting cast if they want to achieve their ultimate goal. Depth is the name of the game, after all, especially come May.
