No. 7 Syracuse (9-4, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) was held scoreless by No. 12 Duke (10-4, 1-2 ACC) in the first quarter to start off the matchup and struggled to find its footing from then on. The Orange fell 11-7 down in Durham in their first ACC loss of the season.
Syracuse was held scoreless in both the first and third quarters, and Duke took full advantage, scoring seven goals during those stretches. Once Duke got rolling offensively, it seized control of the game and never allowed Syracuse to settle in. At one point SU trailed by seven goals, its largest deficit of the season. Thanks to Syracuse goalkeeper Jimmy McCool’s 15 saves this deficit was much smaller than it could have been.
”We didn’t play great today,” Syracuse head coach Gary Gait said postgame. “It was not our best effort. Duke came full of energy and hustle.”
Duke opened the game with energy and intensity, quickly setting the tone. Blue Devils attackman and points leader Eric Malever sparked the offense with the game's opening goal just four minutes in and never looked back. Malever went on to score a career high five goals, leading the Blue Devils to their first ACC win.
The second half started the same way the first did: @DukeMLAX firing on all cylinders.@GriffinMarcy1 had the call for junior Aidan Maguire's sidewinder score.
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) April 19, 2025
📻@waer883, https://t.co/BG0Q3sGXTn pic.twitter.com/Ye6jX8rKIo
Syracuse finally showed signs of life late in the second quarter, led by junior Joey Spallina. In a span of just six minutes, Spallina tallied two goals and added two assists, cutting Duke’s lead to one and injecting some momentum into the Orange offense.
“It was hard to keep those runs going, but I thought we had chances to keep those runs going, and we just didn’t make the plays,” Gait said.
For the second straight week a slow start plagues the Orange. Over the course of the last five games it has taken SU over nine minutes to score on average. While a slower start may be understandable against the No. 1 team in the country such as SU’s previous opponent, Cornell, getting down 3-0 early against a bottom of the ACC team brings concerns.
“I will go back to the drawing board and see what we can do to try and get these guys prepared to have a great start,” Gait said.
Despite winning the faceoff battle 12-10, Syracuse struggled to convert those possessions into goals. Costly turnovers and a lack of rhythm left the Orange scrambling. Syracuse committed 18 turnovers, five of which came in the first half, nearly matching its mere seven shots taken. Duke wasn’t much cleaner, turning the ball over 14 times, but capitalized more effectively on its opportunities.
Syracuse has its final game of the regular season next Saturday as it takes on No. 5. North Carolina. Game time is at 5 p.m. Tune into McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Faceoff at 4:30