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National championships attract the future. Nowhere are more young eyes gathered in the lacrosse community than on Memorial Day weekend. Kids that will become part of recruiting classes six or seven years down the line are glued to their TVs, searching for a lasting memory they’ll recall when sifting through their college offers. 

Between 1983 and 2004, Syracuse never missed that final weekend of college lacrosse. The Orange won the national championship eight times during that stretch. Since then, SU reached the Final Four on just four occasions. In the last decade, that’s dwindled to just one appearance on college lacrosse’s biggest stage and zero titles since 2009. 

Recruiting suffered as a result. Each of the four years immediately following the Orange’s 2009 championship, Inside Lacrosse ranked their recruiting classes in the top 10. Twice in that span, IL deemed them No. 2 in the country in that regard. But after its 2014 move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Syracuse’s recruiting fell out of the top 10, except in 2015 and 2017. 

Jordan Evans (2013) remains the last No. 1 recruit to play for the Orange. They struggled to even snag top-15 players on IL’s Power 100 lists. Lucas Quinn changed that in 2017, and then came Owen Hiltz in the class of 2020.

Hiltz marked a major turning point for the program, along with the acquisition of Chase Scanlan through the transfer portal and the hiring of coach Pat March. The trio represents the shortcomings of the past decade and the ways Syracuse is starting to correct them. It’s a sign that the Orange are prepared to compete at the elite level they traditionally have but in a new college lacrosse landscape, one with four first-time champions in the last decade. 

There are always championship aspirations and expectations for the 10-time champion Orange. But now, there’s no rush. The program continues trending in the right direction even without the validation a trophy brings. 

Hiltz originally signed to Denver. But, in October of 2019, the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2020 flipped to SU largely because of March’s recruiting and relationship with Hiltz’s prep school head coach, Jon Posner. 

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Three years earlier, Scanlan did the reverse. He initially committed to the Orange, then reopened his recruitment in 2016 because he worried about his Haudenosaunee Promise Program scholarship. The scholarship covers tuition and fees for Indigenous people who reside on the territory of a nation in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which is made up of six Indigenous nations, including the Onondaga Nation.

“I felt because they didn’t have any money invested in me they (wouldn’t) feel obligated to giving me a chance,” Scanlan told The Daily Orange in 2019. 

He chose Loyola and played his freshman year there before transferring and choosing SU once again. Head coach John Desko traveled five hours by car to watch Scanlan play in an Ontario box lacrosse tournament, showing commitment to Scanlan, who would become the Orange’s first No. 22 since Evans. Scanlan led Syracuse in scoring last season with 18 goals and 23 points. 

March is the future of Syracuse. Coming over from Princeton last year, March revamped the Orange’s offense into the sixth-best scoring-per-game unit in the nation, up from 15th the year prior. He’s the young coach who numerous recent commits have singled out as the leading voice during recruitment calls. March helped secure three five-star commits in the class of 2022, including No. 1 Joey Spallina. Three five-stars have committed to SU in the past four years.

From the success of last year’s shortened season, a championship in 2021 is by no means out of the question. While Syracuse ranked No. 5 in Inside Lacrosse preseason rankings last year, the Orange climbed the rankings to No. 1 before the season was canceled in early March. They dominated early-season foes, scoring 21 goals twice in their five games. 

SU’s top midfield line of Jamie Trimboli, Brendan Curry and Tucker Dordevic stands testament to Syracuse’s current success on the field. They scored all but one goal in Syracuse’s stiffest test last season against Army, which ended the season ranked No. 7 in the country. The trio returns this year for one last season together.

But the path to East Hartford, Connecticut for a Final Four game may be the toughest ever. Duke secured the best player in college lacrosse, Michael Sowers, and No. 1 incoming freshman, Brennan O’Neill. In the ACC alone, all five teams are ranked to start the season. 

The goal for this year’s Orange team remains the same, however.

“It’s always been national championship or bust, and this year’s definitely no different,” attack Stephen Rehfuss said.

For players in their final year at SU, this is likely their best chance of reaching the top, too. 

“Since I’ve been here, this is probably the most talented team top-to-bottom and the most complete team that’s played together,” Rehfuss, a redshirt fifth year, said in a preseason press conference on Feb. 11. 

For the program, though, a championship this year would be an ornament. There’s no rush for a title. The talent pipeline is flowing, and the pieces are in place for future success. Even if this year may not end as Syracuse’s year, its time is coming.

Arabdho Majumder is a senior staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at armajumd@syr.edu or on Twitter at @aromajumder.

Published on February 17, 2021 at 9:40 pm