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If Syracuse had any shot at upsetting Virginia Saturday, it needed someone to match the production of Connor Shellenberger — a consensus mention as one of the nation’s best attacks.

Joey Spallina was the most obvious culprit to whom the Orange would center their offense around to compete against Shellenberger. The star attack entered Saturday leading SU with 76 points. But he exited at the same total. UVA long pole John Schroter man-marked Spallina at X and around the cage all afternoon, silencing Spallina to a zero-point game for the first time in his college career.

Meanwhile, Shellenberger erupted for a game-high nine points (four goals, five assists) as Syracuse’s attacking staple suffered. Though, Owen Hiltz emerged through Spallina’s hardships to become SU’s primary distributor and shot taker.

The Orange revolved their offense around Hiltz’s play from higher up on the field, rather than Spallina’s behind the net. Hiltz was patient while cradling the ball, consistently setting teammates up with open looks on transition chances and finishing when one-on-one matchups materialized. It worked.

Hiltz unloaded for three goals and tied a career-high with five assists, both team-bests. His offensive explosion willed No. 6 Syracuse (11-4, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) to an 18-goal outing in its crucial home victory over No. 4 Virginia (10-3, 1-2 ACC).

Here is a breakdown of how Hiltz delivered his season-high eight-point performance versus the Cavaliers:

1st quarter, 4:08 — Hiltz gets on the board with a spin-o-rama

SU and UVA were relentless in transition, each displaying solid six-on-six defense but instantly capitalizing with quick clears and consistent finishes. Yet on this play, Hiltz manages to slow the game down to convert on an early transition opportunity.

Carter Rice bolts up the middle of the field uncontested once Riley Figueiras picks up a ground ball and fires a crossfield pass to him. As Rice feeds Christian Mulé on the left flank 10 yards from the cage, Hiltz positions himself for a close-range shot near the left crease. Mulé swings to Sam English who dishes to Hiltz, all while Virginia’s defense is getting set.

Syracuse’s rapid passing stopped with Hiltz. Schroter charged full speed at Hiltz, who had a wide-open shooting lane. Though he planted his left foot and spun in a 360 to the left while Schroter collided with his right shoulder. With his eyes set on the net, Hiltz recovers from the contact, re-sets his feet and whips a lefty strike into the top right corner of the cage.

The 5-foot-8 Hiltz could have easily been baited into an outlet pass when he saw the 6-foot-5 Schroter barreling toward him. But he escaped because of his agility, dictating the pace of play despite possessing the ball in a fast-paced situation.

2nd quarter, 11:34 — Hiltz does it all to fuel run of four straight goal contributions

The first score was his most memorable play, yet Hiltz’s ability to create for others stood out most Saturday. His first assist began a run in which Hiltz contributed a goal or assist on four consecutive Syracuse scores. And he made an impact on both sides.

To start the play, Hiltz applies an aggressive ride to Virginia’s George Fulton, checking him from the right side. Flustered by Hiltz’s defense, Fulton floats an errant pass across midfield that Rice easily picks up for the Orange. Hiltz pivots the opposite direction and cradles a feed from Rice, calmly trotting to captain another transition chance.

Where Syracuse typically tries to sprout offense through Spallina at X looking for cutters, Hiltz spotted pressure up top and filtered the ball with precision down low. Here, Hiltz notices three UVA defenders with their eyes on him. Hiltz finds an open Mulé on the shallow right side and Mulé rips a lefty step-down shot past Cavaliers’ goalie Matthew Nunes for a 6-4 SU lead.

Hiltz’s dishing came without hesitation, something he showed off by assisting on two of Syracuse’s next three goals. In this example, he had to pass at the perfect time while Virginia’s long poles still had their attention away from Mulé, setting up a wide-open goal.

3rd quarter, 9:20 — Give-and-go with Stevens continues dominant run

Thirteen seconds after English assisted Finn Thomson, Hiltz fed Jake Stevens to increase SU’s advantage to 12-10, the third goal of a 4-0 run early in the third quarter.

Hiltz again shows off his quick instincts as a distributor, as his decision-making highlights how much trust he puts into his counterparts.

Mason Kohn and Thomas Colucci battle at the faceoff X, though the ball leaks away from the two and is picked up by Stevens on the wing. Stevens streaks past midfield and switches direction from the left side toward the middle of the field. At the same time, Hiltz raises his stick on the right flank and motions for Stevens to come his way. The latter promptly dishes the ball to Hiltz and continues his run forward.

Hiltz, positioned for a left-handed shot, faced traffic on his left side and two straight defenders directly between him and the cage. He instantly flipped it back to Stevens, who caught the pass and found an open pocket of space due to his momentum carrying him by multiple defenders. Hiltz simply let his versatile midfielder do the work as Stevens buried a shot over Nunes’ right shoulder.

4th quarter, 13:37 — Hiltz’s patience leads to Mulé score

With the game tied 13-13, Hiltz’s final point of the day came at a necessary time to briefly pause what once was a 3-0 Cavaliers run. Patience was a virtue for Hiltz throughout Saturday, and here, it helped him create enough space to hit an open cutter for a goal.

Another transition chance ensues after Nick Caccamo intercepts a pass from Virginia’s Jack Boyden near the left crease. Caccamo spots only turf in front of him and races to the other end of the field. He passes to Hiltz, who was 15 yards from the net on the right side with UVA’s Griffin Kology blocking Hiltz and Mulé from a close-range chance. As Caccamo crosses Hiltz, the attack turns left and makes a run for the middle of the field.

Even though the Orange were in transition, Hiltz slowing the game down opened up a prime scoring opportunity. He let Boyden and Ryan Colsey catch up with him, yet Hiltz’s motion toward the middle clogged UVA’s defense and freed Mulé to cut near the right crease.

Hiltz dumps the ball for Mulé, who receives a high pass and scores on an underhand release that squeaked by Nunes’ right side to give Syracuse a 14-13 lead.

Published on April 22, 2024 at 10:20 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews