Photo Credit: Syracuse Athletics

The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final Four has a special place in the sport, as the weekend where exceptional players and teams cross the threshold from elite to legendary. There is nothing quite like it. 

This year’s version promises to be an exciting one, and is loaded with outstanding storylines. As much as it feels like it’s been a crazy tournament, the results have been somewhat predictable. The remaining seeds are 1, 2, 4, and 6. That’s not always the case, for example last year’s Final Four featured the 1, 5, 6, and 7 seeds. So it feels like we have the very best teams this weekend.

Stylistically, there is a lot of variance in how these teams will try to attack their opponents this weekend. Cornell has the best offence in the nation, flirting with the numbers seen by the 2022 Maryland Terrapins, 2023 Virginia Cavaliers, and 2024 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. On the flip side, the Terps enter the weekend with the 43rd best offence in the nation, but the second best scoring defence. Syracuse has a similar profile to Cornell, while Penn State is one of the most balanced teams in the nation. 

The full rankings for the four teams are below!

TeamScoring OScoring DFOSV%
Cornell1271225
Maryland432344
Penn State16111055
Syracuse 625722

We also have two regular season rematches on Saturday, with Cornell and Syracuse trying to get revenge on their regular season defeats at the hands of Penn State and Maryland. 

Both Cornell and Penn State will use their regular season matchup for motivation. Cornell pretty much dominated the game, leading 12-8 with less than two and a half minutes remaining. But a non-releasable penalty on the faceoff man Jack Cascadden gave the Nittany Lions an extended power play. They scored three goals on the advantage to tie the game, and won it in Overtime. The vengeance angle writes itself for Cornell. 

But Penn State was missing both Matt Traynor and Kyle Lehman, their two leading scorers. They will surely be telling themselves that they have already beat this team without their big guns, imagine what they can do with them? This will be a confident team coming off the huge Notre Dame win, and I think they will be ready to battle right from the first whistle. 

Meanwhile, Maryland defeated the Orange 11-7 in College Park in February. It was the seventh straight victory for Maryland over the Orange. After the game, a clip from the Maryland celebration went semi-viral, with the Terps player reminding the Orange that it is not always sunny and 70 degrees in the Dome. I wonder if Syracuse played that clip this week?

Luckily for the Terps, tomorrow’s weather looks cold and rainy again, but Syracuse has been better outside of the Dome in recent weeks. With huge victories down in Charlotte and in Hempstead last weekend, Syracuse has been a tougher road opponent in the last month than they were in the first three. With a massive Syracuse fan-base expected, expect the Orange to look a little fresher outdoors. 

Keys to the Game – Penn State vs Cornell

What Does PSU Do With the Zone?

Penn State started their comeback against Notre Dame in part because they went to a zone defence that gave the Irish a lot of trouble. After struggling to stop the Irish offence (and specifically their midfielders), the Nittany Lions did not give up a single goal in the fourth quarter and forced several turnovers. 

It’s a somewhat unusual zone defence that they play, with more movement than most. Especially when the ball is behind the net, PSU will basically match the shape of the offence and cover the ball at X. While they start in a 3-3 shape, they can at times become completely inverted from their original formation. 

This is one of the best possessions of zone D I have ever seen. Notice how much movement there from the PSU D. Also watch when the ball is behind the net, how they are basically in a man-to-man style.

The one thing that is traditional about their zone is how packed in they are. Notre Dame repeatedly forced the ball into the middle, allowing the Nittany Lion defenders to not just collapse, but to do so physically and aggressively to put the ball on the turf. Notre Dame’s lack of lefties killed them here, and Cornell should be able to step into shots on both wings. 

But the most interesting development will be the decisions from Penn State about when they want to use the zone, and Cornell’s ability to recognize and attack it. I expect PSU to come out in man-to-man, mostly to set an aggressive tone for their defence. But if Cornell scores a few early, will they shift to zone for the rest of the game? Will they bounce in and out? 

Cornell has played a lot of 5v5 this year with the extra player on the field, which is a good strategy to keep teams out of zone. These are the types of levers that Coach Buczek can pull to help combat against this defence. 

Which Goalie Shows Up?

Cornell goaltender Wyatt Knust has been in good form of late, save for a tough outing last week against Richmond when he made 5 saves. I thought his day was better than the stats suggested, as Richmond features a number of very talented shooters that have dominated a lot of goaltenders this year. Cornell will expect a bounce-back and I think they will get it. 

In the cage for Penn State is the curious case of Jack Fracyon, the former All-American and preseason Kelly Award favourite who has struggled all season. He’s been below 50% save percentage in each of his last four contests, making just 36% of the saves in that span. He is experienced, as this will be his second Final Four, but PSU will need him against a Cornell team that puts a lot of shots on goal. 

Which goaltender shows up (and more importantly which does not) will be a major factor in this game. 

Can Traynor and Lehman do it again? 

Matt Traynor put on a performance for the ages in the quarterfinals, almost single-handedly taking over the game in the third and fourth quarter. Not usually known as a dodger, Traynor looked like prime Paul Rabil for stretches, repeatedly taking his matchup to the net and scoring unassisted. 

He was particularly impressive sweeping to the middle of the field from the high wings. Cornell will need to sell out to stop these dodges to the middle, which will be key to limiting his production. His dive goal will get many of the headlines, but this one was incredible to me. He just waltzed through one of the best defences in America and stuffed it. 

Likewise, Kyle Lehman was impressive in getting his own shot and getting away from Shawn Lyght. He finished with 3 goals and was a big part of the 8 unassisted goals that Penn State scored. 

Jayson Singer figures to cover Traynor, with Cornell having options for Lehman. But Penn State isn’t explosive enough elsewhere for Traynor and Lehman to not produce. As the two players who didn’t play in the first matchup, they will be eager to factor into this budding rivalry.

Can Cornell Find it Early? 

One thing we have seen from the Big Red is that they will make a run at some point, the offence is just too explosive. The question is when? 

Richmond and Albany both held the line and delayed the run, to the second half in the Albany game and the fourth quarter in the Richmond game. I thought Zach Vigue was massive for the Spiders early last week, holding Cornell in check during the first quarter with several saves. 

Penn State will need to do that as well. Sure, they came back last week against Notre Dame, but this Cornell offence is significantly more explosive than that and the margin will be wider if they take time off in this one. 

When Cornell is really humming, the midfielders are winning off the dodge, Ryan Goldstein is conducting from behind the cage and they find CJ Kirst early and often. When they can find that rhythm, the offence is elite. Penn State will do everything they can to at least delay that from happening. 

Keys to the Game – Maryland vs Syracuse

Who Controls the Tempo?

This is by far the biggest thing to monitor, as Syracuse has scored and allowed way more goals than the Terps through the tournament thus far. It’s fun to see a matchup with two teams that are so different in terms of the way they want this game to shake out. 

I think the tempo will really decide this one. As I said on The College Lacrosse Show yesterday, if this game is super high-scoring, I am not sure I see a path for Maryland to win. And I don’t see a path for Syracuse to win a low-scoring affair. 

I think one of these tempos will win out over the other, the question is which one?

What Happens at the X?

Easily the biggest factor in the pace discussion is the faceoff X. where John Mullen was an All-American this year for the Orange. He did not have a good day against Princeton and will be looking to avenge that against a Maryland unit that has used a by-committee approach all season. 

Shea Keethler has been the primary starter this year for the Terps, and did well against Mullen last time, winning 7 of his 13 draws. But the recent star for Maryland has been Jonah Carrier, who replaced Sean Creter as the backup at the position. Carrier was a big part of the Terps victory against Georgetown, winning 9 of his 12 draws and earning significant praise in the post-game. Following Jon Garino and Luke Wierman, Carrier wouldn’t be the first Terps FOGO to come on strong in the playoffs. 

Will this be a revenge game for the Mullen or can the Terps legion get to him? The answer will have a major impact on the game. 

Can Spallina Do It Again?

Joey Spallina turned in the performance of his career against Princeton, most notably scoring several unassisted goals on his way to a 4 goal, 4 assist performance. That was against an extremely talented defender in Colin Mulshine for the Tigers. 

Now, the level rises as Will Schaller awaits Spallina. A first-team All-American, I thought Schaller was the favourite for the Schmeisser (which ultimately went to Shawn Lyght and Bobby Van Buren). Schaller will surely have a chip on his shoulder and be ready for this matchup. 

If I am an Orange fan, I want Spallina going right after Schaller, if nothing else to infuse a sense of fearlessness into the group. In the case that he struggles to win, Cuse needs to find areas for Spallina to find short stick matchups or secondary opportunities. But nobody keeps matchups like the Terps, so it’s a tall order. 

But a Syracuse win has to feature Spallina. On Memorial Day Weekend, your best guys have to be your best guys. 

Depth Works… When it Works 

The Terps have survived on depth scoring unlike the other teams in the tournament. Eric Spanos has 46 points on the year in 16 games. Cornell has played 17, but has four players with more than 47. Spallina alone has 88, meaning that Spanos has scored roughly half the points. 

But the depth has worked for Maryland all season, with dependable games from Spanos, Kelly, Erksa and an under-rated midfield with Bryce Ford, Matthew Keegan and Zach Whittier (all three are between 29-33 points). They have also gotten lots of contribution from their non-offensive personnel: Jack McDonald, AJ Larkin, Geordy Holmes, George Stamos and Eric Kolar have all found the score sheet and are all excellent in transition. 

But the problem with depth scoring is two-fold. One, you need everyone to show up and play well. And two, there are questions about what to do with the game on the line and you need a goal. Maryland has played from the front most of the year, and has only two 1-goal wins. One of those was against a Loyola team that almost went winless and the other was against Notre Dame when it was a crucial save that sealed the deal. 

Of course, the Terps are very hard to scout. Each of their six players can do a bit of everything and there is no one thing that you can try to shut down. But they will need everyone to play well, and they will need to play from the front again or have someone elevate in the game’s biggest moments. 

X-Factors 

Cornell – Andy Dalton and Willem Firth 

Cornell’s lefty midfielders made some big plays down the stretch for the Big Red against Richmond. Penn State will have to decide whether to pole Hugh Kelleher or Firth, a decision that has been difficult for coaches and voters alike. Firth and Kelleher have separately been named first-team all-america by Inside Lacrosse and USILA. 

I would expect Penn State to pole Kelleher, who has been on a role recently, and is a party starter for the rest of the offence. That shifts the focus to the lefty Canadians, who have been excellent recently. Dalton is coming off a hat-trick and has 8 of his 18 goals in the last five games. With the focus rightfully on Goldstein and Kirst, these two will have opportunities to produce… in zone or man-to-man. 

Penn State – Jon King

Penn State has two All-American defenders in Ross and Parnham. But other than their faceoff guy, who is second on the team in ground balls? SSDM Jon King, who has 44 GB’s and 14 CTO’s, both incredible numbers for the position. His defence will be key, but perhaps more important will be the wing play on the draw an area that will have huge importance. The Big Red dominated ground balls against Richmond, King will try to make sure that doesn’t continue. 

Maryland – Jonah Carrier 

It’s hard to single guys out on this group, but Carrier feels like an important guy to go against Mullen. Will Keethler start? Probably. But Carrier will get his opportunities sooner than later and Maryland will need him to play well. 

Syracuse – Joey Spallina 

Let’s keep it simple on this one. Syracuse’s best player is on a revenge tour of sorts and heads for a career-defining matchup against an All-American defender, All-American goaltender and a two-headed monster in the coaching staff that have dominated this game for a decade. But special players elevate in these moments. The Orange need #22 to do just that.

Legends are made this weekend. Who will it be? Tune in to find out.

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