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Syracuse men’s lacrosse’s midfield depth has taken a hit, as head coach Gary Gait announced Thursday that Jackson Birtwistle will miss the rest of 2025 due to a lower-body injury. Birtwistle scored three goals and tallied one assist through SU’s first five games.

Birtwistle, a redshirt senior, suffered the injury early in the fourth quarter of the Orange’s loss to Harvard on Feb. 22. He was helped off the field by SU athletic trainers, gingerly inching toward the sideline and missing the remainder of the game.

This campaign was Birtwistle’s fourth year of NCAA eligibility after redshirting in 2021.

The 6-foot, 195-pound offensive-minded midfielder put together an explosive start to his Syracuse career. He unloaded for 14 goals in his redshirt freshman year in 2022, then racked up a career-best 27 goals in 2023, which ranked second on the Orange behind attack Joey Spallina’s 36.

Birtwistle started six of 15 games as a redshirt sophomore. He never got a single start in each of the next two seasons.

In 2024, Birtwistle put up 12 goals and two assists before he posted four points as a reserve midfielder to begin 2025. Birtwistle is the first key long-term injury to Syracuse this season. However, against Harvard, fellow midfielder Luke Rhoa was unavailable, per an SU Athletics spokesperson, though it’s yet to be determined how many games Rhoa will miss.

Published on February 27, 2025 at 5:16 pm

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