Jake Stevens, Joey Spallina, Will Mark earn IL Preseason All-American honors

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Syracuse has five representatives in Inside Lacrosse’s Preseason All-American list, highlighted by midfielder Jake Stevens, who earned a First-Team spot. Attack Joey Spallina and goalie Will Mark qualified for the Third-Team, while midfielder Sam English and long stick midfielder Saam Olexo were named honorable mentions. Notre Dame and Duke led all Division I programs with seven selections each.

Stevens enters his first season with SU as a graduate transfer from Princeton. With the Tigers, Stevens played from 2019-23 and racked up 58 total goals in 50 appearances. He earned Third-Team All-American honors at the end of his 2022 campaign, where he tallied a then-career-best 22 goals. The following season, Stevens set career numbers in goals (24) and points (29) and was an All-Ivy League Tournament selection.

After an Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year-winning campaign in 2023, Spallina is set to lead a high-powered Syracuse offense. In 15 contests last season, Spallina notched 36 goals and 32 assists (both team-highs) for 68 points. He took by far the most shots for the Orange with 106, 26 more than the next-closest player, and had a success rate of 34%. Spallina also scored 10 man-up goals in 2023, which ranked second on SU (Jackson Birtwistle, 11).

Mark started throughout Syracuse’s slate last season after coming over as a transfer from Long Island. He registered a .542 save percentage — which ranked 11th-highest in the nation — allowing 175 goals and making 207 saves. Mark was a Tewaaraton Award nominee in his debut year with SU and closed the season as a Third-Team All-American.

For the honorable mentions, English comes over along with Stevens as a graduate transfer from Princeton, where he was a Tewaaraton Award watch list member heading into 2023 before rupturing his spleen in a game against Syracuse. In 2022, Stevens scored 30 goals and dished out 18 assists, earning an All-American honorable mention. Olexo enters his senior year with the Orange. The long-stick midfielder picked up the second-most ground balls on the squad last season (53).