CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 15 Harvard men's lacrosse team will be on the road this weekend as it travels to upstate New York to battle the No. 6 Syracuse Orange inside the JMA Wireless Dome. The Crimson (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) will look to upset the Orange on their turf when the teams square off on Saturday at 1:00 PM. Coming off a narrow loss to Colgate this past Tuesday, Harvard will look to bounce back in a big way against one of the nation's best teams this weekend.
 

WHAT TO KNOW

Who: No. 15 Harvard vs No. 6 Syracuse
When: 1:00 PM, Saturday Feb. 22
Where: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Stream: ACC Network Extra
 

What's Next for HLX?

The Crimson will look to bounce back this weekend when it heads to upstate New York to take on the No. 6 Syracuse Orange in the JMA Wireless dome. The No. 15 Crimson will take on the Orange for the first time since the 2006 season when the sides face off at 1:00 PM in Syracuse and on ACCNX.
 

Series History Against 'Cuse

The Crimson and the Orange have competed 14 times in series history. The Orange are undefeated in the series that dates back to the 1923 season. The matchup has featured four games in Syracuse. This will be the first time Harvard will compete against the Orange under Gerry Byrne.
 

Against the ACC Conference

Harvard will take on an ACC foe for the 57th time in program history when it faces off with the Orange on Saturday. Harvard owns 10 wins in those contests, with the most recent result coming against Duke in 2016.
 

Quick Check on Syracuse

The No. 6 Syracuse Orange will head into the matchup with Harvard owning a 3-1 record after being defeated by then No. 6 Maryland last weekend. The Orange rattled off three consecutive wins over Jacksonville (23-5), Vermont, (13-5) and No. 18 Towson (18-7) in its first three games of 2025.
 
The Orange ranks highly nationally on both sides of the field, displaying the eighth best offense (15.5 goals per game) and the sixth best defense (7.0 goals against average). The team also does a very good job of taking care of the ball, ranking second nationally with only 11.25 turnovers per game.
 
Junior Joey Spallina paces the attack with 6.25 points per game this season, a number that ranks seventh nationally. Jimmy McCool leads the goalkeeping effort for the Orange, with his .625 save percentage and 6.83 GAA. Those numbers are 12th and eighth best in the NCAA, respectively.
 

Two of the Nation's Best go Head-to-Head

Fans are in for a treat this weekend as they will have the chance to watch two of the nation's best attackmen go head-to-head in a top-20 matchup between Harvard and Syracuse. Harvard's Sam King and Syracuse's Joey Spallina have been two of the best players in collegiate the past three seasons. The duo makes up two of the top-three active career leaders in points per game in DI college lacrosse as Spallina sits at the top of the list with 4.89 ppg and King comes in at third on the list with his 4.67 ppg clip.  
 

Last Time Out

Harvard was last on the field this past Tuesday in a narrow 15-19 loss to the RV Colgate Raiders at Jordan Field. The Crimson got a career-high five goals from Jack Speidell and six more points from Sam King. On defense, Joost de Koning (2) and Owen Guest (3) combined to cause five Raider turnovers.
 

Spidey Senses

Sophomore attack Jack Speidell has stepped up for the Crimson so far in 2025, posting a team best eight goals through two games. Speidell's 4.0 goals per game are 10th best nationally. The New York native recently posted a new career high with five goals against Colgate.
 

Man-up on a Mission

After ranking in the top-five nationally a season ago, Harvard's extra-man unit has once again shown off its strength in 2025. The Crimson is five-for-six on EMOs this season, giving them a .833 average, the third-best clip in the nation. Jack Speidell leads the unit and ranks 12th nationally with two man-up goals.
 

Giant Killers

Under Gerry Byrne, Harvard has posted two wins over opponents ranked in the national top 10. The last victory came against No. 4 Cornell at Jordan Field in 2023. The other was a 19-16 upset of No. 3 Princeton during the 2022 season. Harvard also played close contests against No. 2 Virginia and No. 10 Yale during the 2024 season that turned into narrow losses.
 

Advanced Stats

According to lacrosse reference, Harvard ranks in the top 10 nationally in three advanced metrics. The team's offensive pacing of 29.5 seconds is the fifth-fastest in the NCAA while the team's shooting percentage of 35.1 percent is eighth-best nationally. Harvard has also taken care of the ball this season, posting the 10th lowest turnover clip in the country. The Crimson - one of the most efficient offensive teams in the nation a season ago - has continued the trend of effective scoring, posting an offensive efficiency rating of 34.6 percent to rank 13th nationally.
 

In the Win Column

Harvard men's lacrosse opened its 2025 season last weekend with a 12-10 win over the Providence College Friars. It was the ninth win over a ranked opponent for Harvard during the Byrne era.
 
New Career High For King
Senior captain and attack, Sam King, set a new career high against No. 20 Providence, dishing out six assists. It was the most assists for a member of the Crimson since Morgan Cheek recorded eight against Boston University in the 2018 campaign.
 

Stevens Strong in Debut

First-year goalkeeper, Graham Stevens, performed well in his first career start, making 13 saves while allowing only 10 goals to pick up his first career win. A five-star recruit out of the Pingry School and Leading Edge Lacrosse, Stevens's save total was the highest for a Harvard first-year in their first career start since at least 2007.
 

Attacking the Cage

The talent of Harvard's starting attack unit of Sam King, Teddy Malone and Jack Speidell has been on full display in 2025. The trio has posted a combined 28 points this season, making up 61-percent of Harvard's scoring through two games. King leads the squad with 13 points on the year while Speidell's eight goals lead the team and are third best in the Ivy League. Malone - who just passed the 50-career-goals milestone - comes in at third on the team with seven points this season.
 

Midfield Monsters

Senior midfielders, Owen Gaffney and Miles Botkiss, each scored a pair of goals against Providence to help the Crimson come out on top in the top-20 showdown. Botkiss helped spark the Harvard offense by scoring the first two goals of the contest and Gaffney potted a pair of second half goals to help lift the Crimson to the result. Gaffney's goals were his first since the 2023 season after missing the entire 2024 campaign due to injury.
 

Dearth Dominant in Game One

One of the strongest SSDM's in the Ivy League, senior Ray Dearth put on a show with his defensive skill against No. 20 Providence. Dearth caused a game-high three turnovers - also tying a personal career high -and scooped up three ground balls. Dearth was the catalyst of a Crimson ride that forced six failed Providence clears. he was also featured heavily in a Harvard defense that cleared the ball at an 85-percent clip in game one.
 

Beginning the Climb

After a top-20 win in its season opener, Harvard moved up to the No. 15 spot in the Inside Lacrosse Media poll. The Crimson started the year in the No. 18 spot before moving up to No. 17 in the week one poll. Last season, Harvard rose to as high as No. 12 in the national rankings after a historic 6-0 start the 2024 campaign.
 

Record Watch

Sam King is just 55 points shy of breaking the all-time program scoring record of 243. The total has stood as the best in program history since 1996 when Mike Eckert '96 broke the record of 241 set by Grady Watts '62. King also ranks T6 in career assists with 87.
 

Iron Sharpens Iron

Gerry Byrne added another ranked win to his coaching register after defeating the Providence College Friars last weekend. It was Byrne's ninth victory over a ranked team in his tenure as the Crimson Head Coach. The Crimson picked up two wins over ranked foes a year ago with victories against No. 18 Bryant and No. 13 Michigan.
 

Up Next

Harvard will return to its home turf next weekend to take on the Marquette Golden Eagles for the first time in program history. The Crimson and the Eagles are set to square off at 12:00 PM in Boston and on ESPN+.