Spallina earns ACC Freshman of the Year, Kirst makes All-ACC Team

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Joey Spallina earned Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year honors and Cole Kirst was named to the All-ACC Team as the conference announced its annual postseason honors on Tuesday afternoon.

Voted on by the league’s head coaches, Spallina became the first Syracuse men’s lacrosse player to receive the award. The attack put together a historic season, tallying a team-high 68 points on 36 goals and 32 assists. He leads all Division-I freshman in points and is ranked third all-time in program history for points as a freshman.

Spallina helped lead the fifth-best man-up attack in the nation, registering 10 goals on the one man advantage. The freshman scored four goals or more in five games throughout the season and finished with a shooting percentage of 34%. In an Apr. 8 win over Princeton, Spallina scored four goals and had a season-high nine points, also tallying a season-high five assists. Spallina earned two ACC Offensive Player of the Week awards over the course of the year as well.

Kirst, a transfer from Lehigh, started primarily at attack but played four games at midfield. The graduate student was third on the team in goals with 26. His 37 points ranked third on Syracuse with only Spallina and Owen Hiltz ahead. Kirst tallied a point in all but one contest this season (Vermont) and scored at least two goals or more in each of the Orange’s final six games.

Kirst’s top performance came in Syracuse’s home loss to Duke on March 5. He led the Orange with four goals and had a shooting percentage of 36.1%. He had the third most shots on goal (46). Only Jackson Birtwistle and Spallina took more.