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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In its return to the elite tier of college lacrosse in 2024, Syracuse’s resume is filled with impressive wins. The Orange have proven they can hang with the upper echelon after two years of mediocrity.

Defeating then-No. 2 Johns Hopkins for Gary Gait’s first ever top-five victory and squeaking by then-No. 4 Virginia were marquee moments, but none stick out more than Syracuse’s 10-4 drubbing of then-No. 4 Duke on March 20.

SU’s defense put on a masterful display, holding the Blue Devils to their lowest goal tally since 2012 and reigning Tewaaraton winner Brennan O’Neill to 1-for-11 shooting. In its first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament since 2019, SU got another chance to knock off the Blue Devils.

Yet this time it was a very different story. Instead of another elite defensive performance, the Orange put together their worst of the season as Duke ran riot.

Unlike its matchup six weeks ago, this time it was No. 2 seed Syracuse (11-5, 3-1 ACC) who was completely outmatched. The Orange fell behind 9-2 in the first quarter and never recovered, getting blown out by No. 3 seed Duke (12-4, 1-3 ACC) 18-13 in the ACC semifinals. O’Neill wreaked havoc along with Andrew McAdorey and Dyson Williams. The trio combined for 13 goals on nearly 60% shooting and SU had no answer. Joey Spallina and Jake Stevens tried to keep up with four goals each, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Following SU’s win over Duke six weeks ago, Gait kept his message simple postgame, saying his team “trusted each other” and “played team lacrosse.” During his weekly media availability on May 1, Gait reiterated those points as the keys to success the second time around.

But for the first 15 minutes that wasn’t the case. Despite being without starting faceoff man Jake Naso, who has a 58% win rate on the season, Duke easily won four straight faceoffs to start. In March, Naso won eight in a row to begin, but the Blue Devils’ lackluster offense didn’t punish the Orange. Though Friday was different.

A prolonged opening possession was capped off by a Williams finish — his 45th of the season. McAdorey curled around from X to make it 2-0 with 12:08 left in the first. The offensive flurry continued when Josh Zawada scored a man-up goal, followed by McAdorey then Max Sloat for three goals in 61 seconds. Before Syracuse could even blink, it was down 5-0.

“From the opening whistle, they were ready to prove they weren’t the same team we played earlier in the season and really took it to us,” Gait said postgame

Stevens tried to inject some life into Syracuse with back-to-back goals to break Duke’s red hot start, but McAdorey and O’Neill canceled out Stevens’ burst with goals 35 seconds apart to make it 7-2.

Everything that could go wrong for Syracuse did. The Orange went just 3-for-12 at the faceoff X and their slides were lackadaisical, allowing open looks for Duke. After nearly a two week layoff, Gait wasn’t hesitant to call his team rusty. He also pointed to the lack of intensity and ball pressure as a result. Attackers got their hands free too easily and the Orange dug a hole they couldn’t get out of according to Gait.

Part of the defensive struggles came down to Will Mark — who registered a season-high 78% save rate against Duke earlier this season — saving just one shot on nine opportunities. This prompted Gait to insert Jimmy McCool in net at 2:20 left in the first quarter with SU trailing 8-2.

Duke added another as Syracuse conceded its most goals in a quarter this season to increase the lead to seven.

“That first quarter was just not good,” Gait said.

As bad as Syracuse played in the opening quarter, it started to find its footing soon after. Three straight goals from Spallina, Mason Kohn and Stevens brought the Orange within four five minutes into the second. After its blistering start, Duke’s offense cooled down, going scoreless for 11 minutes until McAdorey netted his fourth of the first half, putting Duke up 10-5.

Spallina made it 10-6, before O’Neill capped off a four point first half — double his total from the previous Syracuse outing — ripping one past McCool to give Duke an 11-6 halftime lead.

A man-up goal from Spallina 22 seconds into the third gave the Orange a glimmer of hope, but then O’Neill took over. On two straight offensive possessions, the attack caught the ball on the run moving infield to his left.

Each time, O’Neill wound up and fired past McCool for his third and fourth goals of the evening. Even when O’Neill didn’t score, his shots led to goals. A third straight rip was denied by McCool, but the rebound fell straight to Williams, who cashed in. All the inroads Syracuse made in the second quarter suddenly disappeared, as it trailed 14-7.

The offensive onslaught continued as McAdorey added his fifth and Williams recorded his fourth to put Duke up 16-7 — its biggest lead of the game and SU’s largest deficit of the season.

Over the past few weeks, Syracuse has displayed defensive frailties, conceding 17 to Virginia and 18 to Cornell. The difference in those games was that SU was still competitive throughout. On this occasion, the Orange stumbled out of the gates and couldn’t make up for the deficit.

Six goals in the fourth quarter from Syracuse only made the game closer than it actually was. Despite the clear steps forward from SU this year, Friday’s performance was eerily similar to those of the past two years. To put it bluntly, the Orange were clearly outclassed and got sent packing from Charlotte because of it.

“It’s tough to stop a team when they gotta spot them five goals in the beginning and nine goals after the first quarter, it makes it tough,” Gait said.

Published on May 3, 2024 at 10:49 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22