Duke Takes on Host Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinal Thursday

The Opening Hit

Duke enters the ACC Championship as the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinal round. The Blue Devils are 18-38 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 1-1 against the Orange.
The Blue Devils are 6-10 overall and 0-6 against ACC foe. They last played an official game on Oct. 24 – a 3-0 win at Boston University.
Duke and North Carolina scrimmaged Oct. 31, playing four quarters and one overtime session.
The Blue Devils are 15-15 in ACC Tournament first round games and 0-1 as seventh seed. This marks the first time in ACC field hockey history Syracuse has hosted the tournament.
Syracuse enters the postseason as one of the nation's best on offense and defense. The Orange sport a 0.97 goals against average to rank second in the ACC and sixth nationally. On the other end of the field, Syracuse is scoring 3.34 goals per game to sit second in the league and sixth in the country.
The Blue Devils feature a balanced scoring effort with Logan Clouser and MaryKate Neff leading the way with 13 points apiece. Duke has six players with multiple goals this season. Defensively, Piper Hampsch leads the ACC in saves per game at 4.75.

Duke by the Numbers
1.000 – Lexi Davidson's penalty stroke percentage, making all seven of the strokes she has taken in her career

6.19 – Saves per game average for the Duke goalkeepers, ranking 21st nationally

4.75 – Saves per game average for goalkeeper Piper Hampsch, the most in the ACC and 30th nationally

2 – Players on the field for Thursday's ACC quarterfinal game who are on the U.S. U21 National Team - Leah Crouse (Duke) and Charlotte de Vries (Syracuse)

52 - Career points for Leah Crouse, ranking 39th in Duke history

1 – Win needed by Bustin for 300 career victories

12 – Penalty corner goals allowed on 98 penalty corners defended

156 - Career saves for Hampsch, ranking 13th in program history as just a sophomore

7 - Points in the past four games for rookie Logan Clouser after having none in the first eight

4 – Programs that currently rank in the top 10 nationally in both goals against average and scoring average with Syracuse ranking sixth in both categories

Scouting Syracuse

Syracuse enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 2 seed after losing to Louisville in its ACC regular season finale to decide the regular season champ and No. 1 seed. The Orange is 12-4 overall and finished 4-2 against ACC foes. The 2021 ACC Tournament host features the nation's sixth-ranked scoring offense and scoring defense. The Orange has eight different players with double digit points. Quirine Comans leads the offense with nine goals and eight assists for 26 points. Pleun Lammers has eight goals and four assists for 20 points.
Syracuse has allowed just 16 goals this season and owns eight shutouts on the year. The Orange allowed three goals in a pair of games, but haven't given up more than two since Sept. 12 in a 5-3 win at UConn. In goal, Brooke Borzymowski anchors the defense with an ACC-best 0.91 goals against average. She has 39 saves in her 15 games. Defensively, Sienna Pegram has one defensive save.

Series History

Duke and Syracuse are meeting for just the 13th time overall, but the fourth time over the past calendar year. The Orange lead the series 10-2 and have won the past five matchups – four of which were one-goal games and two decided in overtime.
Duke is 1-1 against the Orange in the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils last defeated Syracuse in the ACC Tournament in 2018, a 4-1 win Nov. 4.

Last Time We Met

Syracuse scored twice in the first 10 minutes and four times in the first half to earn a commanding 7-2 victory in Durham this season. The Orange capitalized on penalty corners twice in the game and outshot Duke 21-8. Grace Brightbill earned the start for the Blue Devils in the cage and made four saves. Piper Hampsch played the second half, making seven stops, including six in the fourth quarter.
Duke broke through in the final minutes of the third quarter as Logan Clouser netted a goal on a pass from MaryKate Neff. Neff had the second goal, redirecting a shot from Eva Nunnink on a penalty corner. The seven goals were the most allowed by Duke since UNC scored seven Sept. 12, 2012.

About the Blue Devils

Duke looks to make some noise in the ACC Tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Blue Devils are coming off a 3-0 shutout victory at Boston University 11 days ago, Oct. 24. Duke has since scrimmaged UNC, but Thursday's matchup with the Orange will be the team's first official action in nearly two weeks.
Offensively, Duke is led by a rookie and a vet. Freshman Logan Clouser has a team-best five goals and three assists for 13 points, while graduate student MaryKate Neff has four goals and five assists for 13 points. Graduate student Lexi Davidson also has five assists to round out Duke's double digit scorers with 11 points.
Defensively, Duke features a backline of veterans in Caroline Hanan, Grace Kim, Eva Nunnink and Lexi Davidson. The quartet has played a combined 235 career games. In goal, sophomore Piper Hampsch has started 14 of 16 games and leads the ACC with 4.75 saves per game. She has a 2.39 goals against average and a .704 save percentage and two shutouts.

Blue Devils in the Acc Tournament

This is the 39th ACC Field Hockey Championship and Duke heads into the event with an 18-38 all-time record. The Blue Devils are the No. 7 seed for the second time and are 0-1.
Duke and Syracuse have squared off twice in the ACC Tournament with both teams collecting a win. The Blue Devils defeated the Orange in 2018. Syracuse won last season, 3-2, in overtime.
Of the current seven ACC field hockey programs, only North Carolina, Wake Forest and Virginia have won ACC Championships, with UNC leading the way at 23.
Duke has advanced to the title match three times – 1990, 2003, 2011.

Clouser Clicking

Rookie Logan Clouser is firing on all cylinders for the Duke offense. She has 13 points in the past eight games, registering at least one point in seven of them. She did not have a single point in the first eight games of her collegiate career.
Clouser registered her first career points with a goal and an assist at William & Mary. She has four goals and two assists in the past seven outings.
The recent uptick in Clouser's offensive production is a result of her being more active in the circle. The Bethlehem, Pa., native took only two shots in the first eight games of the season, none of which landed on goal. In the past eight, she has taken 15 shots and 12 of them were on cage.

Clouser A Top Rookie

Freshman Logan Clouser has come on strong in the second half of the season. Her 0.31 points per game average ranks 17th among all freshmen and is second behind Virginia's Noah Botemann's 0.33 average.

Crouse & Bourne Headed to Junior World Cup

Senior Leah Crouse and 2020 ACC Rookie of the Year Darcy Bourne both were among the 18 players selected to the U.S. and England U21 National Teams recently announced by the two federations. Both will travel to the 2021 FIH Hockey Women's Junior World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa December 5-16.
Crouse is one of four players from the ACC selected to the team. She will be joined by two players from Boston College, one from Syracuse and another from Wake Forest.

Up Next

The winner between Duke and Syracuse will face either six-seed Wake Forest or No. 3 seed North Carolina in the semifinals, Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m.

#GoDuke

Duke Takes on Host Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinal Thursday

Players Mentioned

Darcy Bourne

Grace Brightbill

Logan Clouser

Leah Crouse

Lexi Davidson

Piper Hampsch

Caroline Hanan

Grace Kim

MaryKate Neff

Eva Nunnink

Duke information

Duke Takes on Host Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinal Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Darcy Bourne

Grace Brightbill

Logan Clouser

Leah Crouse

Lexi Davidson

Piper Hampsch

Caroline Hanan

Grace Kim

MaryKate Neff

Eva Nunnink

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Duke information