Syracuse starting goaltender Drake Porter announced he will return for a fifth year, using an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the canceled 2020 season. Porter was the second graduating senior to announce his return, following face-off specialist Danny Varello on Wednesday. 

“My teammates and I will do whatever it takes to bring a National Championship back to ‘Cuse,” Porter said in a statement. “Hartford or bust.” 

Porter was a member of the preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference team in 2020 and posted 64 saves and an ACC-leading .577 save percentage across five games. Porter became the first two-year starter in the cage since Evan Molloy. In 2019, Porter led the ACC in save percentage and saves-per-game and was a member of the All-ACC team.

The Aurora, Ontario native was ranked as the fourth goalie in the 2020 Premier Lacrosse League draft class by Paul Carcaterra.

Earlier Thursday on a Zoom call with the media, teammate Nick Mellen hinted that Porter could possibly return. When asked about the team’s potential for next season, Mellen said, “the roster of guys we have coming back is ridiculous, like extremely deep.” 

“We got our starting goalie coming back, pretty much our whole defense, pretty much our whole team from last year is coming back,” he said. 

Other graduating members of the 2020 team that could return with NCAA eligibility include Peter Dearth, Jamie Trimboli and Stephen Rehfuss, all of whom have yet to announce their decisions.

Published on April 16, 2020 at 2:01 pm

Contact Mitchell: mbannon@syr.edu