Big First Half Sends No. 1 Orange Past No. 4 Duke

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Sunday, March 22

Syracuse, N.Y.

12:30 PM

Duke University

Syracuse

Big First Half Sends No. 1 Orange Past No. 4 Duke

3/22/2015 3:27:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Top-ranked and unbeaten Syracuse jumped out to a 13-1 halftime lead and never looked back en route to a 19-7 victory over No. 4 Duke Sunday afternoon in front of 11,408 fans in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse senior Kevin Rice and junior Dylan Donahue led the offense with seven points for the Orange and Ben Williams won 14-of-22 faceoffs to keep the Blue Devils off the field. Justin Guterding had two goals for Duke and Deemer Class had a goal and an assist.

The 12-goal loss was the worst for the Blue Devils since suffering a 13-goal setback at Johns Hopkins in 2003. That game also marked the last time Duke has given up more than 18 goals in a game.

The Orange got off to a hot start, scoring on four of its first five possessions and never let up as it built the 13-1 halftime advantage. Syracuse used its dominance at the faceoff X to keep the Duke offense off the field in the opening quarter. The Blue Devils took just four shots in the first 15 minutes with the lone goal coming from the stick of Case Matheis.

Leading 6-1 after the opening frame, Syracuse scored a pair of goals within seven seconds of each other in the first 55 seconds and held the Blue Devils scoreless to head into the locker room with a 12-goal advantage.

Syracuse led Duke 34-12 in shots and won 13-of-16 faceoffs in the first half.

Time of possession was more even in the second half as Duke found more success at the X and on the defensive end, but the Blue Devils were never able to cut into the Orange's large lead.

Guterding stopped a 25-minute scoring drought for Duke at 6:26 of the third period and Jack Bruckner, Brian Dailey, Class and Tanner Scott got into the scoring column for the Blue Devils in the fourth quarter.

Jack Rowe finished the day 12-of-26 on the faceoff with 11 ground balls. In goal, Luke Aaron made four stops and Danny Fowler made one in 15 minutes of action.

Bobby Wardwell made 11 saves for the Orange and allowed two goals.

Duke resumes it's tough ACC schedule next Sunday, March 29 at No. 2 North Carolina. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m., on Fetzer Field.

#GoDuke