Story and photo by Robin Deehan
Photo courtesy cuse.com
CHESTER, PA. – The third-seeded Syracuse Orange men captured their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship edging the fourth-seeded Duke Blue Devils 15-14 Sunday afternoon at PPL Park.
The win marked the fifth conference championship for Syracuse in the last six seasons and earned the Orange an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“It was a great game for college lacrosse and we are really excited to come away with a win today,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “My hat is off to Coach Danowski and his team. They are a much different team than we played the first go-around. Much improved. They’ve figured it out and have their people in the right places. They changed things up offensively and defensively. Congratulations to them for making it to the finals of the ACC Championship game.”
“We want to congratulate Coach Desko, his staff, and his students on winning the ACC championship. It’s a great honor and they have a great time and great tradition,” Duke head coach John Danowski said.
First Half Struggles
After Nicky Galasso got the Orange on the board just 39 seconds into the game, the Blue Devils took control going on a six-goal scoring run led by Jack Bruckner, Case Matheis, Tanner Scott and Justin Guterding to end first quarter play with a 6-2 lead.
But the Orange battled back and changed the tide of the game with three quick goals from Hakeem Lecky, Randy Staats, and Derek DeJoe who scored his fourth goal of the season on an extra man opportunity.
Less than two minutes after DeJoe’s man-up goal, Nick Weston evened the score at six on a bouncer between Duke keeper Danny Fowler’s legs.
And the go-ahead goal came from Kevin Rice who attacked the crease from behind the cage for the wrap around.
Two more goals from Dylan Donahue and Staats rounded out a 7-1 second quarter scoring run to send the Orange into the locker room up 9-7.
“I think we got on a little bit of a roll and figured out who they were defensively and what they were doing and, we stopped turning the ball over,” Desko said. “Kevin did a great job with the matchup changes, figuring out who he was being covered by and what kind of move or dodge he would take with that person.”
Second Half Success
48 Seconds into the second half, Bruckner netted his third of the game to bring the Blue Devils to within one.
But two goals from Rice, including a quick stick finisher from a Staats behind the back pass, gave the Orange a two-goal cushion as the third quarter came to a close.
Myles Jones opened fourth quarter scoring but the Orange answered right back thanks to Staats, who dove after a rebound and swatted it in for another SU man-up goal.
With three minutes remaining and down three goals the Blue Devils staged a rally, with back-to-back scores 24 seconds apart from Thomas Zenker and Jones to come within one.
On the ensuing face-off Duke won possession and worked the Syracuse defense but missed four in a row.
With 14 seconds remaining, Matheis took the final shot for the Blue Devils but fired wide.
SU defender Paolo Ciferri won the race to the ball to gain possession as time expired, and Syracuse claimed the ACC title in a 15-14 triumph.
The Orange men are now looking to add another trophy to their 2015 trophy case when NCAA tournament play opens on May 6.
“You want to win every game that you play, especially when there is a trophy on the line, it adds some intensity to the game,” Rice said. “Playing two games in three days against top six teams is sort of what you will see in the Final Four. To know we can go in and win a game the first day, get our preparation in quickly and get our bodies back and win another game at the end of the weekend is good to know moving forward.”
Playmakers
Although Duke had the advantage in shots, 42-35, and face-offs, picking up 21 to Syracuse’s 11, the game was won on extra man opportunities.
Duke went 0-3 while Syracuse converted three of its four chances in the one goal win.
“The system we were running was working really well,” Staats said. “We were swinging the ball to the open guy and the back-side guy was open the majority of the time, so we were finding that.”
Tournament most valuable player Rice had seven points on the day with three goals and four assists while Staats and Galasso netted three apiece.
SU keeper Bobby Wardwell recorded eight saves and was named to the All-ACC Tournament team along with Rice, Staats, Galasso and defender Brandon Mullins.
Up Next
The Orange will travel to Colgate Saturday, May 2 to face the Patriot League Conference Champions in the last regular season game.Face-off is scheduled for 3:30pm.
Photo courtesy cuse.com
CHESTER, PA. – The third-seeded Syracuse Orange men captured their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship edging the fourth-seeded Duke Blue Devils 15-14 Sunday afternoon at PPL Park.
The win marked the fifth conference championship for Syracuse in the last six seasons and earned the Orange an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“It was a great game for college lacrosse and we are really excited to come away with a win today,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “My hat is off to Coach Danowski and his team. They are a much different team than we played the first go-around. Much improved. They’ve figured it out and have their people in the right places. They changed things up offensively and defensively. Congratulations to them for making it to the finals of the ACC Championship game.”
“We want to congratulate Coach Desko, his staff, and his students on winning the ACC championship. It’s a great honor and they have a great time and great tradition,” Duke head coach John Danowski said.
First Half Struggles
After Nicky Galasso got the Orange on the board just 39 seconds into the game, the Blue Devils took control going on a six-goal scoring run led by Jack Bruckner, Case Matheis, Tanner Scott and Justin Guterding to end first quarter play with a 6-2 lead.
But the Orange battled back and changed the tide of the game with three quick goals from Hakeem Lecky, Randy Staats, and Derek DeJoe who scored his fourth goal of the season on an extra man opportunity.
Less than two minutes after DeJoe’s man-up goal, Nick Weston evened the score at six on a bouncer between Duke keeper Danny Fowler’s legs.
And the go-ahead goal came from Kevin Rice who attacked the crease from behind the cage for the wrap around.
Two more goals from Dylan Donahue and Staats rounded out a 7-1 second quarter scoring run to send the Orange into the locker room up 9-7.
“I think we got on a little bit of a roll and figured out who they were defensively and what they were doing and, we stopped turning the ball over,” Desko said. “Kevin did a great job with the matchup changes, figuring out who he was being covered by and what kind of move or dodge he would take with that person.”
Second Half Success
48 Seconds into the second half, Bruckner netted his third of the game to bring the Blue Devils to within one.
But two goals from Rice, including a quick stick finisher from a Staats behind the back pass, gave the Orange a two-goal cushion as the third quarter came to a close.
Myles Jones opened fourth quarter scoring but the Orange answered right back thanks to Staats, who dove after a rebound and swatted it in for another SU man-up goal.
With three minutes remaining and down three goals the Blue Devils staged a rally, with back-to-back scores 24 seconds apart from Thomas Zenker and Jones to come within one.
On the ensuing face-off Duke won possession and worked the Syracuse defense but missed four in a row.
With 14 seconds remaining, Matheis took the final shot for the Blue Devils but fired wide.
SU defender Paolo Ciferri won the race to the ball to gain possession as time expired, and Syracuse claimed the ACC title in a 15-14 triumph.
The Orange men are now looking to add another trophy to their 2015 trophy case when NCAA tournament play opens on May 6.
“You want to win every game that you play, especially when there is a trophy on the line, it adds some intensity to the game,” Rice said. “Playing two games in three days against top six teams is sort of what you will see in the Final Four. To know we can go in and win a game the first day, get our preparation in quickly and get our bodies back and win another game at the end of the weekend is good to know moving forward.”
Playmakers
Although Duke had the advantage in shots, 42-35, and face-offs, picking up 21 to Syracuse’s 11, the game was won on extra man opportunities.
Duke went 0-3 while Syracuse converted three of its four chances in the one goal win.
“The system we were running was working really well,” Staats said. “We were swinging the ball to the open guy and the back-side guy was open the majority of the time, so we were finding that.”
Tournament most valuable player Rice had seven points on the day with three goals and four assists while Staats and Galasso netted three apiece.
SU keeper Bobby Wardwell recorded eight saves and was named to the All-ACC Tournament team along with Rice, Staats, Galasso and defender Brandon Mullins.
Up Next
The Orange will travel to Colgate Saturday, May 2 to face the Patriot League Conference Champions in the last regular season game.Face-off is scheduled for 3:30pm.
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