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After securing its most regular-season wins since 2017, Syracuse heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the ACC Tournament. SU sealed the No. 2 seed with a 3-1 conference record, only finishing behind Notre Dame, which went undefeated in ACC play.

Syracuse enters the postseason coming off two one-goal wins against North Carolina and Virginia. In Chapel Hill on April 13, SU led 10-4 before five straight goals from the Tar Heels made the Orange sweat late on, but they pulled out a 10-9 win. In its regular-season finale, Syracuse defeated Virginia 18-17. Trailing by three in the fourth quarter, SU scored four straight goals to come out with a win.

As they look to make their first ACC Championship game since 2016, the Orange take on Duke for the second time this season. The Blue Devils have one of the most potent offenses in the country, led by reigning Tewaaraton winner Brennan O’Neill.

Here’s everything to know about No. 3 seed Duke (11-4, 1-3 ACC) before it takes on No. 2 seed Syracuse (11-4, 3-1 ACC) in the ACC Tournament semifinals:

All-time series

Syracuse leads 15-9.

Last time they played

Just over a month ago on March 20, Syracuse welcomed then-No. 4 Duke to the JMA Wireless Dome for its first ACC contest. Benn Johnston got on the board first for Duke, but Syracuse scored eight of the next nine goals to lead 8-2. From there, the Orange held on for a comfortable 10-4 win.

Owen Hiltz netted a hat trick, but Will Mark’s play in net led the way for SU. Mark registered 13 saves and a season-high 77.8% save percentage while holding the Blue Devils to their lowest-scoring total since 2012.

The Blue Devils report

Since its loss to Syracuse, Duke has seen mixed results. A one-goal win over Boston University followed a comfortable win over Denver, but the Blue Devils fell to No. 1 Notre Dame 15-12 on April 7. After defeating Virginia handily, Duke put in its worst performance of the season, falling 15-12 to North Carolina.

The focal point of Duke’s offense is O’Neill. His 67 points lead the Blue Devils and he always has the green light to let it rip from distance. O’Neill’s 153 shots are 60 more than the next closest player on the team. He will be a lot to handle but Duke has plenty of attacking depth, with six other players totalling at least 15 goals this season.

Sophie Burke | Design Editor

Along with its potent attack, Duke’s defense is no slouch either. Led by freshman Patrick Jameison in net, the Blue Devils allow just 9.87 goals per game — the second-best mark in the ACC. Though in recent weeks, Jameison hasn’t been as strong. Through Duke’s first 11 games, he held opponents to single-digits eight times, but has allowed at least 10 goals in his past four appearances.

How Syracuse beats Duke

Holding O’Neill to one goal simply won’t happen again. At least, it’s not likely. The key for Syracuse against Duke is shutting down its secondary options. If the Orange let O’Neill get his way and contains attackers like Dyson Williams and Josh Zawada, it could lead to similar success like the first matchup. A lot of pressure will be put on Syracuse’s long poles Billy Dwan, Riley Figueiras and Saam Olexo to contain a dangerous Blue Devils attack.

Defensive stability will be key, but playing a full four quarters is crucial to SU’s success. The Orange have struggled to close out games this year. SU let a seven-goal lead slip against Cornell and almost blew comfortable leads against Johns Hopkins and North Carolina. In what will likely be a tight game, Syracuse’s fourth-quarter play will be the deciding factor.

Stat to know: 3

Since winning the ACC Tournament championship in 2016, Syracuse has lost its past three ACC Tournament games, all of which came by just one goal. Starting in 2017, Syracuse fell 16-15 to North Carolina. Then, after finishing the 2018 regular season undefeated in conference play, it fell 11-10 to Virginia.

The final game of the losing streak came against North Carolina in 2019. SU led by one heading into the fourth quarter, but the Tar Heels outscored the Orange 5-3 in the fourth, propelling them to an 11-10 win.

Player to watch: Dyson Williams, attack, No. 51

Coming off a 60-goal season, Williams hasn’t slowed down in 2024. In 15 games, the attack has recorded a team-high 44 goals, converting on 47.3% of his shots. With O’Neill as the focal point of the offense, Williams gets a lot of favorable looks with his off-ball cutting ability. Williams has scored a hat trick in 10 games this season, and tallied a season-high five goals on March 3 against Princeton.

Published on May 1, 2024 at 11:09 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22