Welcome to On the Run. Here's what you need to know about what happened in college lacrosse this weekend, plus some little things that I loved. Quick and easy to read while you're on the run!

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Today’s writeup in a snapshot 📸:

• 👀 The Headliner: Syracuse beats Princeton 19-18

• 🤝 Supporting Cast: Welcome to the Matt Traynor Show

• 🎯 Quick Hits: Richmond’s Gavin Creo

• 📈 On the Rise: Notre Dame’s Luke Miller

👀 The Headliner: Syracuse Beats Princeton 19-18 🍊

The storyline that stole the show this weekend.

This wasn’t just the best game of the year; this is one of the best college lacrosse games we’ve ever seen.

Back and forth, runs and comebacks, big saves, insane goals and takeover performances. This game had it all.

Joey Spallina probably had the best game of his collegiate career in the biggest moment with 8 points (4G, 4A).

He scored four unassisted goals in the first half and forced Princeton to switch the matchup.

Then, in the second half, Spallina showcased his feeding ability, dropping four assists, including the eventual game-winning assist to Owen Hiltz.

For Princeton, Chad Palumbo matched Spallina’s 8 points with 6G, 2A for the Tigers.

He made play after play after play, but his best goal was this backdoor cut and smooth finish.

Freshman Peter Buonanno also deserves a shoutout with 6 points (3G, 3A) as well and was one of the best players on the field.

This game had 18 different players register a goal and was just so fun to watch.

Princeton was down 12-16 in the 4th quarter, but then went on a run and took the lead. Syracuse responded to tie the game on a Michael Leo tally before the Spallina to Hiltz connection sealed the deal.

Not only was it an instant classic, but the fact that it was Princeton vs Syracuse, one of the most storied rivalries in the sport, made it that much more dramatic.

Syracuse will face Maryland in the NCAA semifinals on Saturday at 2:30pm, a team they haven’t beaten since 2009.

Will that change on Saturday?

🤝 The Supporting Cast

The things that weren't maybe the star of the weekend, but still important.

1. Penn State Beats Notre Dame 14-12 🦁

Another amazing game.

Down 6-12 with 5:56 left in the 3rd quarter, the Nittany Lions rattled off eight unanswered goals to head to Championship weekend.

Matt Traynor was unconscious with 6 goals, and he was the sole offense for Penn State for a while before other players like Kyle Lehman, Ethan Long and Liam Matthews started to produce.

Penn State’s defense deserves a ton of credit too.

They went to a zone defense after Notre Dame’s 12th goal, and didn’t let up a goal for the rest of the game.

The zone defense wasn’t anything too complicated, but it forced Notre Dame to take low angle shots and force feed the crease when it wasn’t open.

The Fighting Irish made some uncharacteristic mistakes, but credit to the Nittany Lion defense and coaching staff for the adjustment.

Penn State faces Cornell on Saturday at 12pm.

They are the only team to hand Cornell a loss this season. Can they do it again?

2. Cornell Survives, Beats Richmond 13-12 🐻

The game that started the weekend off with a bang.

While Richmond was unranked facing the #1 seed in Cornell, a lot of people expected this game to be close after the Spiders only lost by one to the Big Red in the regular season.

And man did the Spiders almost pull it off.

A back and forth game with the largest lead only being a three goal margin, Richmond went up 12-11 in the 4th quarter thanks to back-to-back goals by junior midfielder Joe Sheridan.

While he didn’t have the greatest game by his standards, CJ Kirst found space off-ball to tie the game on a feed from Ryan Goldstein before Michael Long found Andrew Dalton on a gorgeous skip pass that would prove to be the difference.

Just a really good game of lacrosse.

3. Maryland Beats Georgtown 9-6, Returns to Championship Weekend (again) 🐢

Yeah this game wasn’t as fun as the others, but I guess I still need to talk about it.

I don’t know how they do it, but the Terps just manage to make opposing teams offense’s uncomfortable in big moments.

Maryland has such a high floor. Their offense isn’t insanely dynamic, but they’ll get you to around 10 goals and let the defense shut the door.

They never seem panicked, and having a goalie that’s already played during Championship weekend three times in his career certainly helps.

Can Maryland continue to be the Achilles heel of Syracuse? We fill find out.

🎯 Quick Hits

The weekend's standout plays, hustle moments, and everything in between.

📈 On the Rise

Spotlighting players and teams who are setting themselves up for big things ahead.

1. Luke Miller (Attack/Midfield - Notre Dame) 🍀

Miller was a spark plug for Notre Dame in the final three games.

He had 1G, 1A in the ACC Championship loss to Syracuse before registering that same stat line in the loss to Penn State.

He figures to be a top candidate to start next season at attack for the Fighting Irish, but was also super effective coming out of the box as a midfielder.

2. Walker Schwartz (LSM - Cornell) 🐻

Schwartz has been impressive all season.

After playing in only one game is freshman year, Schwartz has played in all 17 this season at the LSM position.

He’s not a game wrecker that will put up gaudy stats, but he’s a very cerebral LSM with awesome handles and can make an impact in transition.

He had a goal against Richmond, but my favorite play was this hard cut to free up SSDM TJ Lamb to score in transition.

Read previous week’s here:

• Read Week 0

• Read Week 1

• Read Week 2

• Read Week 3

• Read Week 4

• Read Week 5

• Read Week 6

• Read Week 7

• Read Week 8

• Read Week 9

• Read Week 10

• Read Week 11

• Read Week 12

• Read Week 13

• Read NCAA Round 1