Opponent Preview: Everything to know about the Catamounts

By Connor Smith senior staff writer

A year after its first double-digit loss season ever, Syracuse returns to the field Saturday afternoon to host Vermont in its 2023 season-opener.

The Orange missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time (in a non-pandemic year) since 2007, when they went 5-8. Second-year head coach Gary Gait leads a young SU team, expected to be led by redshirt sophomore attack Owen Hiltz and highly-touted freshmen Joey Spallina and Finn Thomson. Syracuse also has a new starting goalie in Will Mark, who transferred after playing three seasons at Long Island University.

Vermont finished last season 12-7, going 6-0 in America East play, and losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to top-seeded Maryland. The Catamounts won the America East Tournament behind wins over UAlbany and UMBC and won all of their conference games by at least seven goals last season.

Here’s everything to know about Vermont before Saturday’s matchup:

All-time series

Syracuse leads, 1-0.

Last time they played from page 12 ends in Toronto playing hockey. The time commitment meant Calof never felt “super connected” to her religion.

Then-No. 7 Syracuse and Vermont faced off in week three of the 2021 season, with the Orange coming out on top in a 17-13 win in the firstever meeting between the two schools. Stephen Rehfuss led SU with six assists and eight points and Hiltz added five points behind four goals.

SU had some defensive issues, allowing Vermont to generate 52 shots — including 34 on goal — but goalie Drake Porter recorded a career-high 21 saves. Catamounts midfielder JJ Levandowski led them with 13 shots and Thomas McConvey had four goals on six shots. Porter, though, helped Syracuse escape a potential home upset.

“When they did get their shots off, for Drake Porter to have 20 saves, that says something too,” then-head coach John Desko said after the game.

Going to Israel changed that.

The Canadian team spent five hours at Yad Vashem. Some players had family that were holocaust survivors or knew people that had family who escaped Nazi Germany. Calof said the team experienced the muse - from page 12 recruiting

Of course, the benefit for the Orange is the transfer portal, which Johnson called “the great equalizer.” There isn’t one right way to build a college football program today, Johnson said, pointing to TCU, which didn’t rank in 247’s top 20 once over the past five years, but played for the national championship this season. Teams like TCU and Syracuse can go out and convince bench players at marquee schools to come in and earn significant snaps right away, even after losing recruits out of high school.

That strategy worked not just with Shrader, one of the program’s most valuable players, but also with defensive backs Jaeden Gould and Jayden Bellamy, both of whom SU offered out of high school, but neither of whom played much at Nebraska and Notre Dame, respectively. They’re both expected to be major contributors for the Orange’s defense next season.

Syracuse is ranked 55th in 247’s transfer team rankings this year, but 17th among schools that brought in six players or less. Granted, the Orange lost some key players like Ja’Had Carter and Duce Chestnut to the portal, but the incoming talent shows they can compete in an increasingly-important area of college football.

SU also lost some of its most important assistant coaches this offseason, with both coordinators, along with Monroe and Mike Schmidt — top recruiters — departing. Syracuse isn’t alone, with 27 ACC coordinators changing teams in the past 14 months, but from page 10 the grind of daily practices and is an avid film watcher. Moesch said he often takes it upon himself to compete with the younger players, showing them what it takes to succeed at a high level.

Brandon Barnard, who plays lacrosse

“I think he was seeing the ball very well today.”

The Catamounts report

Vermont lost its top three goal scorers from last season, including its No. 1, McConvey, who earned America East Offensive Player of the Year and third-team All-American honors last season after registering a program-record 60 goals. Gone, too, are veteran attacks Michael McCormack (40 goals, 11 assists in 2022) and Liam Limoges (32 and 11).

One key returner is attack David Closterman, a graduate student who was first-team all-conference last year and started all 19 games. He finished second on the Catamounts with 65 points and led the team with 36 assists. Closterman had three points — all on assists — in the Dome two years ago. Joining him is senior attack Brock Haley, Vermont’s second-best assists man last season and a fellow all-America East first-team selection.

UVM has two returning goalies who saw limited action last season. Two-year starter Ryan Cornell graduated after winning America East Defensive Player of the Year (the first time ever a Catamount has won the award) and notching an 8.91 goals against average, which ranked fourth nationally. George Egan, a junior, allowed 11 goals in five games last season, while Matt Shaffer, a graduate student, allowed four goals in 24 minutes over seven games.

How Syracuse beats Vermont

Both of these two teams are facing a lot of unknowns heading into the season, given how much talent each lost after last year. Syracuse lost its top four scorers, including Tucker Dordevic, who recorded 47 goals — 13 more than second-best Brendan Curry. Dordevic transferred to Georgetown after the season, while Curry and Owen Seebold graduated. Mikey Berkman, who had 14 goals and nine assists as a redshirt sophomore last season, also entered the portal, eventually settling at Division-II Rollins College.

The departures present the Orange with a youthful attack, led by Hiltz, who’s returning from an injury suffered before last season, and Spallina um front to back.

Calof described the trip as something bigger than sports. Walking into the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem with 40,000 people in the crowd was eye-opening for her. Knowing the struggles of Jewish people throughout history and seeing everyone come together in that moment was overwhelming, but made her feel honored.

Hockey isn’t very popular in Israel, with only a few rinks in the entire country. For the games, NHL owners donated a rink that was those losses “sting” since recruiting is all about relationships, Johnson said.

Assistants like Monroe, who recruited Florida and the Tri-state area for the Orange to bring in players like Trill Williams, Chestnut and Mikel Jones, knew where talent was in those areas, and wouldn’t waste time, Johnson noted. Now, Syracuse will have to rebuild relationships with high schools essentially from scratch, while Monroe’s work will carry over to Minnesota.

“Whatever (Monroe) had established with the guys down there, that’s gone,” Johnson said. “Now (the high schools’) attention will follow him.”

Babers deserves credit for the replacements he’s brought in, notably new tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile, who has deep ties to the talent-rich area of Northern New Jersey. The head coach is clearly emphasizing local recruiting — Syracuse signed the most New York players (four) in any class since Babers arrived and the coach will be the keynote speaker at the New Jersey Minority Coaches Association coaches clinic in March.

It remains to be seen what success Campanile and the other new assistants can have recruiting for SU. What is clear, though, is that Syracuse is a program predicated on developing talent, not on bringing in the nation’s top high-school players. Jones, Matthew Bergeron, Oronde Gadsden II and Sean Tucker were all 3-stars out of high school. Today, they’re viewed as future NFL players, a credit to Babers and his staff.

“They’re gonna just have to work harder on development,” Johnson said. “They may not get the guys everybody’s gonna read their clippings and basketball with Moesch, said that Moesch’s mindset has rubbed off on his teammates and that he’s a “really good role model,” partially because of how composed he is. Younger athletes often seek out Moesch to ask questions, Barnard said.

“I’m always telling (them) don’t worry about it, you’re young, you’ve got time to get better. I’m and Thomson, two five-star freshmen. Midfielder Jackson Birtwistle, who finished fifth on SU in points last season, also returns. It’s unclear where most of Syracuse’s scoring will come from, though Hiltz is a good place to start. Gait said each of the younger players will have their opportunities, too.

“You’re gonna see an entirely new attack this year, and I’m excited about it,” Gait said. “There’s no way one guy’s gonna be amazing without the other guys.”

To take down Vermont in the season-opener, Syracuse will need a strong offensive performance, something that eluded it in several games last season, particularly in games against Maryland, Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame, when it failed to exceed 10 goals. Mark will also need to have a strong game in net, and SU’s defense will have to contain Closterman and Haley.

Stat to know: 48th put into a basketball stadium. Playing in a round-robin format, the top two teams would play in the gold-medal game.

Canada was a forceful presence throughout and breezed through the first games of the tournament, having defeated the U.S twice in the round-robin stage. But the teams met again in the final. With a thin roster, the Canadians dressed just 15 players, but Calof stepped up in the final, helping Canada to a 6-2 victory.

Calof was named MVP of the tournament, csmith49@syr.edu

While SU consistently faces one of the toughest schedules nationally — including the fifth-strongest last season — Vermont was barely in the top 50 last season. The Catamounts lost at No. 3 Duke last February, the only ranked team they played until losing to Maryland in the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse, meanwhile, faced 10 ranked opponents in its 14 games last year. While both teams enter this game unranked, Vermont will be an underdog against the only power-conference school on its schedule.

Player to watch: David Closterman, attack, No. 10 Closterman is entering his fourth year as a starter, and earned America East Rookie of the Year honors in 2019 when he had 25 goals and 12 assists in 14 games. He’s been a go-to scoring option for Vermont for several years now and will be the point man for Syracuse to shut down on Saturday.

@csmith17_

“controlling the pace” from the defensive end, Miller said. She garnered local recognition. Kids started to ask her for autographs. Calof said it was the only “life-changing” trip she’d ever been on, with the combination of religion and hockey giving her life-long memories and knowledge.

“Maccabi Canada emphasizes that they’ll bring athletes who are Jewish to Israel,” Miller said “But they’ll bring home Jewish athletes, and that’s what I think happened with Shelby.” about and that’s fine. Because once you get them on campus, I think that staff is really good at developing players and supplementing through the transfer portal when they need to.”

That means there should be some faith that the 18-hour days Babers and his staff put in leading up to the first signing day in December, and the class just trying to keep [our younger players’] positivity up.” Moesch said.

At 190 pounds, Moesch knows he’ll have to add some mass by the fall if he wants to have success in college. He plans to use Hobart’s workout program during the summer to prepare himself for the season.

Moesch recognizes the positive impact that basketball has had on his life and, before they’ve assembled, will pay off in some form. The rankings might not be flashy (or even appealing), but with where Syracuse’s roster is today, it’s not surprising. The onus is now on Babers and his newlyadjusted staff to prove the rankings services wrong. csmith49@syr.edu

@csmith17_ leaving for school, has used his notoriety to mentor younger athletes in his community whenever possible as he prepares to leave for Hobart.

“This little kid and his dad came up to me… and he asked for a picture…it was a very surreal moment for me,” Moesch said. “I used to always be the guy asking for pictures.” narubins@syr.edu