Syracuse Holds Off Duke to Capture ACC Title

Sunday, April 26

Chester, Pa.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Syracuse (Final)

Syracuse Holds Off Duke to Capture ACC Title

4/26/2015 4:46:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHESTER, Pa.—Syracuse senior Kevin Rice registered three goals and four assists and the fourth-ranked Orange held off a late comeback effort from No. 6 Duke to take home the 2015 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship at PPL Park Sunday. The title is the first for recent ACC addition Syracuse.

Jack Bruckner led all Duke scorers with five goals, while Myles Jones added three goals and two assists. Bruckner, Jones, Case Matheis and Kyle Rowe represented the Blue Devils on the ACC All-Tournament team.

Rowe was outstanding at the draw, winning 19-of-30 restarts and picking up a season-high 14 ground balls. Long pole Brian Dailey registered a career-high two assists and picked up a ground ball and a caused turnover to cap a weekend with two points, 10 ground balls and four caused turnovers.

The Blue Devils offense had the hot hand in the first quarter, scoring five unanswered on seven shots in a span of 6:23 for a 5-1 lead late in the first quarter. Bruckner and Matheis both had a pair in the run, while Tanner Scott capped the streak with his first of the day.

Like the Blue Devils dominated the action in the first quarter, the Orange did so in the second. Syracuse outscored Duke 7-1 for the quarter, including a 5-0 run that lifted it back in front 7-6. Dylan Donahue and Randy Staats tacked on late tallies after Guterding tied the game to put the Orange up 9-7 going into the locker room.

Duke, trailing at the half for just the fourth time all season, pulled within one to start the third quarter on a goal from Bruckner, but Syracuse answered with two goals for its largest lead of the game midway through the period.

The trend continued for the Blue Devils as Jones and Bruckner scored 62 seconds apart to make it 11-10 before Rice netted an extra-man goal in the closing seconds of the third period for two-goal Orange advantage.

The Orange and Blue Devils traded goals throughout the first half of the fourth quarter to set up a thrilling finish.

Trailing by three, 15-12 with under three minutes remaining in regulation, Duke short-stick midfielder Thomas Zenker scored just his third of the year to bring it within two, 15-13.

Rowe continued his dominance at the faceoff X on the ensuing draw and Myles Jones benefited from a Will Haus pass to make it 15-14 with 2:32 left on the clock. Rowe won the faceoff again and Duke fired a pair of shots off the mark before Syracuse called the timeout.

The Blue Devils had a look at goal from Scott blocked, but Syracuse couldn't clear and Duke got the ball back with 35 seconds left and called the timeout. Coming out the huddle, Matheis got a step on his man but fired his shot just wide and Syracuse backed it up to hold on for the win.

Staats added three goals and two assists and Nicky Galasso had a hat trick.

Danny Fowler finished with six saves and two ground balls in goal. Bobby Wardwell made eight saves and had three ground balls in 60 minutes of action. The Orange was 3-of-4 on man-up, while Duke went 0-for-4.

Duke closes its regular season schedule Sunday, May 3 against Boston University. Faceoff is set for 2:30 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium on ESPN3.

Notes

- Myles Jones, with 73 points on the year, is the first midfielder in Duke history to eclipse 70 points in a season. His 73 points are 11th on the Duke single-season list, while his 34 assists are eighth in a Duke season. His 157 career points are 22nd all-time at Duke.

- Justin Guterding pushed his season goals total to 46, tying Dan Flannery for 13th in Duke single-season history and 11 shy of tying Zack Greer's freshman record of 57.

- Duke is now 7-7 all-time in ACC Championship games and 4-2 under head coach John Danowski