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Duke Faces Syracuse For Bid To National Title Game
5/22/2009 3:00:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
DURHAM, N.C.?The Duke University men's lacrosse team continues its quest for its first NCAA Championship on Saturday, May 23, when it takes on second-seeded Syracuse in the national semifinals at 12 p.m., at Gillette Stadium. The third-seeded Blue Devils advanced to the semifinals for the third consecutive season and for the fourth time in the past five years.
Duke is making its fifth semifinal appearance after edging ACC rival North Carolina 12-11 in the tournament quarterfinal. Syracuse earned a spot in the final weekend with an 11-6 triumph over Maryland.
Saturday's game will be televised live in high definition by ESPN2. Dave Ryan and Quint Kessenich will describe the action. The game also is available at www.espn360.com.
FACING OFF
Duke advanced to the semifinal for the fifth time and for the third consecutive season with a narrow 12-11 victory over sixth-seeded North Carolina in the quarterfinal contest ... The Blue Devils are 15-3 overall on the season and riding a nine-game win streak, the longest current active streak nationally ... Duke is paced on offense by senior Ned Crotty with 23 goals and 53 assists for 76 points and junior Max Quinzani with a team-high 43 tallies ... Sophomore Zach Howell has 45 points on the year and leads all Duke goal scorers in the NCAA Tournament with five ... Defensively, Duke is allowing 7.95 goals per game ... Anchored by the starting close defense Michael Manley, Ryan McFadyen, and Parker McKee, the Blue Devils have allowed 10-plus goals in just five games this season ... Senior goaltender Rob Schroeder is 15-3 overall with a 7.67 goals against average and a .517 save percentage.
SYRACUSE SERIES HISTORY
Duke and Syracuse are meeting for the sixth time ... The Orange lead the series 4-1 overall, including a 2-0 mark in NCAA Tournament action ... The Blue Devils' lone win over Syracuse was a 10-7 win on March 15, 1978 in Durham ... The last time these two teams met was in a 2002 NCAA Quarterfinal with SU taking a 10-9 victory.
SCOUTING THE ORANGE
Syracuse earned a spot in the national semifinals with an 11-6 win over Maryland in the quarterfinal ... The Orange defeated Siena 11-4 in the opening round ... Sporting a 14-2 overall record, Syracuse's two losses came against Virginia (13-12) and Princeton (12-8) ... The Orange's one-two punch on offense comes from senior Kenny Nims and sophomore Stephen Keogh ... Nims has 27 goals and 41 assists for 68 points, while Keogh is the top goal scorer with 46 tallies and 52 points overall ... Offensively, Syracuse ranks second with 12.88 goals per game ... Defensively, the Orange is equally as impressive as it allows just 7.31 goals per game ... In goal John Galloway is 13-2 with a 7.31 goals against average and a .582 save percentage ... At the X for Syracuse is a combination of four players ... No single Orange player has taken more than 92 faceoffs this season, with Gavin Jenkinson leading the way with a .619 win percentage (52-of-84).
NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
? Duke is 16-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament play
? The Blue Devils have advanced to the national semifinals five times overall, including four in the past five seasons (1997, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009)
? Duke has won 10 of its past 13 playoff games, with the three defeats coming against Johns Hopkins in the 2005 and 2007 title games and the 2008 semifinals
? Duke and Syracuse are meeting for the third time in NCAA Tournament history and for the first time in the semifinals ... The Orange are 2-0 against the Blue Devils in NCAA Tournament games
? Overall, the Blue Devils are 16-6 in NCAA action when reaching double figures in the scoring column and 0-6 when held to nine goals or less
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Over the past four-plus seasons, Duke has amassed a 43-12 (.782) record versus ranked opponents ... The Blue Devils are 9-2 against top-20 foes in 2009 ... In 2007, the Blue Devils went 6-2 against teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game ... The team went 5-2 last season versus top-10 foes.
UP NEXT
The winner of the Duke-Syracuse match-up will face the winner of top-seeded Virginia and fifth-seeded Cornell for the national championship at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 25 at Gillette Stadium.
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