A very big senior season could be awaiting Syracuse attackman Joey Spallina. On Thursday, USA Lacrosse named him its Preseason Player of the Year as well as the Preseason Attackman of the Year.

It’s well-deserved double accolades for Spallina, who is expected to make a run on the program record book with surpassing Mike Powell’s all-time points record of 307 not out of the question. Powell starred for the Orange from 2001-04.

Spallina enters the 2026 season with 108 goals and 138 assists, those 246 points tied for ninth-all time at Syracuse. In his second season, he set the school record for a sophomore with 88 points (37 goals, 51 assists), and he hit the 200-point mark in the second-fewest games in program history.

He is sixth with 138 assists, and he is one of just seven players to have worn an Orange jersey and to reach at least 100 goals and 100 assists.

In 19 games in 2025, Spallina put up a career-best 90 points on 35 goals and 55 assists. He tallied season highs for points, goals and assists on March 22 when he posted 11 points on five goals and six assists in a 16-12 win against Colgate.

USA Lacrosse already named Spallina a Preseason First Team All-American. He finished last season as a Second Team All-American and as a nominee for the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate lacrosse player.

Spallina is from Mount Sinai, N.Y., about a 5 ½-hour drive from Syracuse. One of five children, Spallina will have his two brothers with him to watch his Orange legend grow. Brothers Jake and Brett, who are twins, both are junior midfielders at Syracuse.

USA Lacrosse has Syracuse ranked second in the nation, with Inside Lacrosse listing the Orange as third. Their 2026 season will open Feb. 1 when Boston University visits the JMA Wireless Dome.

Syracuse will be looking to take one more step this season. In 2025, the Orange finished with an 11-5 record and defeated Harvard, then Princeton in overtime, to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse fell to Maryland, 14-8, in one national semifinal.

Cornell won the national championship, defeating the Terrapins 13-10.

The Orange have won 11 national championships, the most recent one coming in 2009. Those titles came in a 27-year span, with Syracuse winning its first title in 1983. The team lost in the NCAA final five times between 1984 and 2001, as well.

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