No. 3 Syracuse can't overcome dismal first quarter, falls to No. 6 Duke 18-13 in ACC tournament semifinals

No. 3 Syracuse men's lacrosse’s (11-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) time in Charlotte was short-lived after a semifinal loss to No. 6 Duke (12-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). These two teams squared off for the first time in March. In that game, Syracuse held the potent Duke offense to just four goals. This time around, it took the Blue Devils just five minutes to surpass that mark. All of those scores came before SU had a possession.

“It was a tough game against a motivated Duke team. They proved they weren’t the same team we played earlier in the season,” said head coach Gary Gait.

While the offensive performance was reversed, one similarity between the two matchups was the early domination in the faceoff department for Duke. In the first meeting, the Blue Devils controlled the battles at the faceoff-x 5-0. In the second clash, Duke took control of the first six faceoffs to set its offense up to take advantage, and they did quickly.

More surprisingly, it was an unfamiliar face that emerged for the Blue Devils. Duke’s starting FOGO Jake Naso was out with an injury. The Blue Devils inserted freshman Cal Girard who filled the shoes with ease and took command on the draws.

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That dominant stretch for the Blue Devils continued throughout the first quarter. When the buzzer sounded after the first 15 minutes of play, SU trailed 9-2. More notably, Syracuse head coach Gary Gait made a drastic change. The head man benched his star goalie Will Mark for backup Jimmy McCool.

““One save, nine goals against… you know, that’s tough,” said Gait on his decision to pull the netminder.

The switch gave the Orange a much needed spark. SU went on a 4-1 run in the second frame to trim the deficit to four. However, the Blue Devil attack stayed persistent and tacked on a goal to head into the half up 10-5.

“After the first quarter I thought we played them pretty well. But we weren’t ready to play in that first quarter,” stated Gary Gait following the loss.

Despite the slow start, Syracuse had a chance to go into the locker room and regroup to climb back into it. Meanwhile, Duke was just chomping at the bit and specifically Blue Devil attackmen Brennan O’Neill. The reigning Tewaaraton Award winner tallied two scores in the first four minutes of the second half to extend Duke’s lead.

The ‘Cuse was dominated 5-1 in the third period, but a bright spot came from sophomore Joey Spallina when he notched his first hat trick against a conference opponent this season. Regardless of the attackman’s impressive outing, Syracuse still struggled to tame the Duke offense. The Blue Devils scored five unanswered to round out the penultimate quarter.

SU found its footing in the final quarter of action, outscoring Duke 6-2 to conclude the game. Syracuse made a late push, firing two in the back of the net in the final 12 seconds.

Now, the Orange can take the little momentum they gained in the fourth quarter into the NCAA tournament. Syracuse looks ahead to Sunday night when it finds out who it will dance with. SU hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2017. You can follow @WAERSports on Twitter for all updates on the Orange’s run in the postseason.