By Nick Richardson
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse women’s lacrosse team
toughed out an important conference victory as part of the first game of a home and away doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Duke Blue Devils 14-12 at the Carrier Dome.
The win was the
Orange’s third straight following triumphs over Notre Dame and Connecticut.
The team improved its record in the ACC to 3-1, as well as 10-3 overall. The Blue
Devils suffered their first loss in conference play, dropping to 3-1 and 8-5
overall.
Kayla Treanor
and Halle Majorana led the Orange with 3 goals apiece while Nicole Levy and
Kelly Cross both added two more.
Syracuse coaches and players were not available immediately afterward because when it was over, the Orange hustled to a bus to head up the Thruway to Buffalo for the second half of the doubleheader against Canisius.
Syracuse coaches and players were not available immediately afterward because when it was over, the Orange hustled to a bus to head up the Thruway to Buffalo for the second half of the doubleheader against Canisius.
Big Run in First Half
The home game started
out as a back-and-forth affair with very good defensive play from both teams.
After Stuart Humphrey gave Duke a 3-2 lead less than 10 minutes in, the Orange scored six straight to pull ahead 8-3.
“We did not
compete well defensively in the first half,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said.
“We didn’t limit any of their top guns. We obviously know their personnel
really well, we know what they’re looking to create and we just didn’t do a
good job.”
The Orange scored three more times in the half to take an 11-5 lead into the locker room.
Syracuse was able to control the tempo of the half thanks to Treanor’s
dominance on draws.
“Kayla, she’s an
awesome player,” Kimel said. “She scores, she creates, she sets everybody up,
draws a lot of attention, and I think our kids kind of froze at times and
didn’t react well.”
Blue Devils' Rally Falls Short
Syracuse’s
offense struggled mightily in the second half due in large part to Duke finally
being able to win some draws. Fortunately for the Orange, its defense stepped
up.
After Duke made
it a 12-6 game both teams went more then 10 minutes without scoring a goal. This
defensive showcase was highlighted by a long Blue Devils' possession that came
to an end on a great save by SU’s Allie Murray.
“It was tough
because we were down but we wanted to make sure we played with patience, worked
the ball, let the ball work for us and then look for a great opportunity which
we did create, we just didn’t finish,” Kimel said.
Duke wouldn’t go
down without a fight, however. Their second half performance turned into a
two-woman show. Senior Maddy Acton netted four of her game-high six goals in
the second half, while sophomore Maddie Crutchfield scored three times.
In the end,
though, the Blue Devils had dug themselves too deep a hole to climb out of and ran
out of time.
Important Conference Win
Syracuse now
sits at 3-1 in the ACC, even more impressive considering the teams they’ve
defeated: all three of SU’s conference victories have come against ranked
opponents (no. 7 Virginia, no. 4 Notre Dame and no. 14 Duke). Their three
remaining conference games (Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Louisville) all come
against unranked teams.
Up Next
The Canisius game originally was scheduled for Tuesday night but several days ago was moved up to Sunday. After the Sunday night game in Buffalo comes home back to prepare of a trip to Blacksburg to play the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday Apr. 9 at noon.
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