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There are few worse feelings in sports than the aftermath of getting benched. Solemnly sitting there in defeat. All hope sucked out of your soul after someone else took your job and kicked you to the curb. It’s the feeling every athlete in the world aims to avoid. The number one goal isn’t to win a championship, it’s to play. What meaning is there to accomplishment without being on the field? How much trust remains in the institution after it strips you of your title?

Syracuse goalie Jimmy McCool fell victim to a benching Saturday. He failed to stop 10-of-15 shots in the first 35 minutes and 26 seconds of SU’s battle against Harvard. At the 9:34 mark of the third quarter, fresh off allowing a game-tying goal from the Crimson, McCool was pulled for sophomore backup Michael Ippoliti.

Ippoliti gave up five goals on a .444 save percentage. The Orange still were toppled by Harvard in shocking fashion.

“You’re trying to change momentum,” SU head coach Gary Gait said of the decision to switch goalies. “(We were) hoping that Michael Ippoliti would be a little spark and help us turn it back on.”

No. 6 Syracuse (3-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) couldn’t find a jolt of energy anywhere down the stretch of its 15-14 home loss to No. 15 Harvard (2-1, 0-0 Ivy League) Saturday. Atypical offensive struggles — shooting inaccuracy, turnovers — plagued it severely. But McCool’s rough outing defined the Orange’s second straight loss. The redshirt sophomore finished with a save percentage of .333, the worst single-game performance of his young career.

Saturday showed how easily SU can wilt away if a couple of things don’t go right. John Mullen pulverized the Crimson at the faceoff X, finishing 28-of-31, yet the litany of extra possessions didn’t matter. Harvard capitalized on every chance without much resistance from Syracuse’s goalies while the Orange sputtered on the other end.

While no one’s questioning the playing time for SU’s starting attacks, however, McCool leaves his fifth start with significantly less job security — even though Gait downplayed the benching.

“Jimmy’s our starter,” Gait said with confidence.

McCool had it easy before Harvard’s first shot-on-goal at the 7:01 mark of the first quarter, which Owen Gaffney put past SU’s netminder. By then, the Orange were up 5-1. Their lead seemed safe. Then a Crimson avalanche wrecked McCool’s afternoon.

His save rate sat at a measly .385 by halftime. After allowing three goals on three consecutive shots faced from the end of the second to the early part of the third quarter, that was it for McCool.

It wasn’t all his fault. Syracuse’s long poles struggled to close off Harvard’s passing lanes. Attackers like Teddy Malone, who ended with a team-best four goals, often outmuscled SU’s close defenders as the Crimson received plentiful point-blank chances. On the contrary, McCool reacted late to Harvard’s ball movement at times and had difficulties locating shots that were placed extremely high or low on the cage.

Gait was quick to defend McCool postgame. He pointed to the Crimson’s shooting precision, saying their offense is a lethal challenge for any goalie to stand strong against.

“You go back and watch those shots and they were freaking … ripping them, and they were hitting corners and pipes and we’re hitting the goalie right in the chest,” Gait said. “It makes it really hard when teams shoot in a high percentage like (Harvard) did today.”

The Crimson ended with a 60% shot-on-goal percentage, while the Orange finished at 54%. Gait said on Thursday he knew it’d be a tall task for SU’s defense because Harvard’s a team that can outscore anybody. Postgame Saturday, he said the Crimson proved his scouting report right.

It makes the change from McCool to Ippoliti even more intriguing. If Gait knew this game would be high scoring, then why fret if the goalie is having a tough game? This decision simply displayed how small the gap is between McCool and Ippoliti, at least according to Syracuse’s coaching staff.

The head coach spoke on numerous occasions before the season expressing utmost trust in Ippoliti. He took until there were mere days prior to SU’s home opener to name a starting goalie. He has lauded Syracuse’s depth at the position. Saturday was the first time he’s actually had to use it. A conversation between Gait and assistant coach Nick Acquaviva, who specializes working with goalies, determined the Orange would go with Ippoliti for the rest of the game.

McCool exited his first four games fairly unscathed. He tallied a .818 save clip against Jacksonville in his first-ever start, followed up by a .688 save rate versus Vermont. Then, a respectable .563 percentage on then-No. 16 Towson stamped McCool’s consistency. He struggled in the second half against then-No. 6 Maryland, though it didn’t seem like any concerns were warranted. His total save percentage was well above .500, after all.

Yet after his first bad performance of the season, McCool was benched. Gait said McCool will continue to start going forward. But make no mistake, a precedent was set Saturday. The Orange won’t tolerate porousness between the pipes and are willing to change between their top options when necessary.

It’s a hard reality to sustain for a goalie. Former Syracuse goalie Will Mark, who McCool was a backup for each of the last two years, said the night he was benched in SU’s ACC Tournament loss to Duke on May 3, 2024, was the hardest moment of his career. That had been the last time Gait made a goalie swap. And on that night in Charlotte, North Carolina, McCool stepped in for Mark, just as Ippoliti did for him.

Mark shook it off, never complained and helped propel Syracuse to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal. McCool now has plenty of time to put together a similar turnaround.

“I’m sure he would like a chance to get back in there and prove he’s better than that,” Gait said of McCool. “He’s a great kid and a good leader, and he’s gonna get that opportunity.”

Published on February 22, 2025 at 7:46 pm

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