Completed Event: Men's Lacrosse versus Georgetown on May 10, 2025 , Loss , 12, to, 16
/
Final
Men's Lacrosse
12
vs Georgetown
16
Thursday, March 25
Durham, N.C.
7 P.M.
Duke University
9-0, 1-0
15
vs
14
Syracuse
4-2, 1-1
1
2
3
4
F
Syracuse
3
4
4
3
14
Duke University
4
8
1
2
15
Photo by: Duke Athletics
No. 2 Duke Edges No. 4 Syracuse in ACC Thriller
3/25/2021 11:33:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
DURHAM – Duke goaltender Mike Adler came up with a pair of saves in the final 38 seconds, including one as time as time expired, to help the second-ranked Blue Devils hold off No. 4 Syracuse 15-14 in thrilling ACC men's lacrosse action Thursday night at Koskinen Stadium.
Duke remains unbeaten at 9-0 and 1-0 in ACC action, while Syracuse falls to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Michael Sowers paced the Duke offense with three goals and three assists for six points, including assisting on the tying goal and netting the eventual winner with 3:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The game featured six ties and four lead changes as the two programs traded scoring runs in the second and third quarters, leaving Syracuse up a goal midway through the fourth.
"This was a great college athletic event," head coach John Danowski said. "Syracuse kids showed tremendous character. In the second half they came out and played great and took the lead. I'm very proud of our guys for battling back and figuring out how tie the game and then ultimately win it. And of course going two men down at the end when we were 0-for-2 going into that extra man the odds were against us. It was just a great college lacrosse game."
The Blue Devils, after rallying to take a 15-14 lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, were whistled for a 30-second offside penalty with 38 seconds to play to give the Orange a final look at the cage with a man advantage.
Adler denied Tucker Dordevic's shot with 24 seconds left, but in the scrum for the loose ball Duke was called for a one-minute penalty, leaving the Blue Devils down two men for the next seven seconds.
Syracuse called a timeout and came out and got a look for Brendan Curry from the left side. Curry's shot sailed well wide of the cage, leaving the Orange 4.4 seconds and still with a one-man advantage. Coming out of a second timeout, Syracuse found Stephen Rehfuss on the left side of the crease, but the redshirt senior was forced into a tough shot and couldn't beat Adler at the near post, giving Duke the one-goal victory.
Rehfuss led the Syracuse attack with three goals and three assists. Chase Scanlan tacked on four goals and an assist.
After trading goals during the opening 15 minutes, Duke took control in the second quarter, using a 7-0 run to jump ahead 12-5 with 3:28 left in the period. The Blue Devils scored five of those goals in a span of 3:49. Rookie Brennan O'Neill had two of his three of the night in the spurt as Duke had six different goal scorers on seven tallies. Overall in the second quarter, Duke had seven different players score, getting goals from sophomore longstick midfielder Tyler Carpenter and faceoff specialist Jake Naso.
The Orange answered with two goals to finish the half down 12-7, but with momentum. Syracuse carried that play into the second half and held Duke to one goal in the third stanza and cut the Blue Devils' advantage to 13-11 with one quarter remaining.
The Blue Devils continued to struggle offensively in the fourth as Syracuse tacked on three more in the final frame to go ahead 14-13 with 7:10 remaining.
Duke turned the tables down the stretch, getting a man-up strike from sophomore Dyson Williams at the 5:47 mark and Sowers throwing an Owen Caputo pass into the goal for the go-ahead goal with 3:25 remaining.
Jake Naso won his 24th faceoff of the night to give Duke the ball back with a chance to go ahead two, but Caputo hit the side of the cage and the Orange picked it up. The Blue Devils forced another Syracuse turnover on the next possession, one of 16 on the night for the Orange, before turning it back over themselves on a possession time violation to set up the nail-biting final 60 seconds.
Naso was unbelievable at the faceoff X, winning a career-high 24-of-32 faceoffs and picking up 14 ground balls. He also added a goal. Adler finished the night with 10 saves, including three in the fourth quarter. Drake Porter posted 13 saves for Syracuse.
"We're as surprised as anybody [about Jake Naso's success tonight]," said Danowski. "In the first game of the season he took one draw and he violated. He wasn't in our plans in early February and then through practice and opportunities early in the season he has been coming on. His exits were clean. He made good decisions with the ball. He didn't turn it over. He scored a goal. He continues to evolve. We're surprised, but honestly happy."
Duke held Syracuse to 36 shots, 10 below its average and won the ground ball battle 31-15.
The Blue Devils return home to host No. 1 North Carolina next Thursday, April 1 at 7 p.m., on ACC Network.
#GoDuke
Duke remains unbeaten at 9-0 and 1-0 in ACC action, while Syracuse falls to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Michael Sowers paced the Duke offense with three goals and three assists for six points, including assisting on the tying goal and netting the eventual winner with 3:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The game featured six ties and four lead changes as the two programs traded scoring runs in the second and third quarters, leaving Syracuse up a goal midway through the fourth.
"This was a great college athletic event," head coach John Danowski said. "Syracuse kids showed tremendous character. In the second half they came out and played great and took the lead. I'm very proud of our guys for battling back and figuring out how tie the game and then ultimately win it. And of course going two men down at the end when we were 0-for-2 going into that extra man the odds were against us. It was just a great college lacrosse game."
The Blue Devils, after rallying to take a 15-14 lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, were whistled for a 30-second offside penalty with 38 seconds to play to give the Orange a final look at the cage with a man advantage.
Adler denied Tucker Dordevic's shot with 24 seconds left, but in the scrum for the loose ball Duke was called for a one-minute penalty, leaving the Blue Devils down two men for the next seven seconds.
Syracuse called a timeout and came out and got a look for Brendan Curry from the left side. Curry's shot sailed well wide of the cage, leaving the Orange 4.4 seconds and still with a one-man advantage. Coming out of a second timeout, Syracuse found Stephen Rehfuss on the left side of the crease, but the redshirt senior was forced into a tough shot and couldn't beat Adler at the near post, giving Duke the one-goal victory.
Rehfuss led the Syracuse attack with three goals and three assists. Chase Scanlan tacked on four goals and an assist.
After trading goals during the opening 15 minutes, Duke took control in the second quarter, using a 7-0 run to jump ahead 12-5 with 3:28 left in the period. The Blue Devils scored five of those goals in a span of 3:49. Rookie Brennan O'Neill had two of his three of the night in the spurt as Duke had six different goal scorers on seven tallies. Overall in the second quarter, Duke had seven different players score, getting goals from sophomore longstick midfielder Tyler Carpenter and faceoff specialist Jake Naso.
The Orange answered with two goals to finish the half down 12-7, but with momentum. Syracuse carried that play into the second half and held Duke to one goal in the third stanza and cut the Blue Devils' advantage to 13-11 with one quarter remaining.
The Blue Devils continued to struggle offensively in the fourth as Syracuse tacked on three more in the final frame to go ahead 14-13 with 7:10 remaining.
Duke turned the tables down the stretch, getting a man-up strike from sophomore Dyson Williams at the 5:47 mark and Sowers throwing an Owen Caputo pass into the goal for the go-ahead goal with 3:25 remaining.
Jake Naso won his 24th faceoff of the night to give Duke the ball back with a chance to go ahead two, but Caputo hit the side of the cage and the Orange picked it up. The Blue Devils forced another Syracuse turnover on the next possession, one of 16 on the night for the Orange, before turning it back over themselves on a possession time violation to set up the nail-biting final 60 seconds.
Naso was unbelievable at the faceoff X, winning a career-high 24-of-32 faceoffs and picking up 14 ground balls. He also added a goal. Adler finished the night with 10 saves, including three in the fourth quarter. Drake Porter posted 13 saves for Syracuse.
"We're as surprised as anybody [about Jake Naso's success tonight]," said Danowski. "In the first game of the season he took one draw and he violated. He wasn't in our plans in early February and then through practice and opportunities early in the season he has been coming on. His exits were clean. He made good decisions with the ball. He didn't turn it over. He scored a goal. He continues to evolve. We're surprised, but honestly happy."
Duke held Syracuse to 36 shots, 10 below its average and won the ground ball battle 31-15.
The Blue Devils return home to host No. 1 North Carolina next Thursday, April 1 at 7 p.m., on ACC Network.
#GoDuke
Team Stats
SU
DU
Shots
36
41
Turnovers
16
16
Caused Turnovers
5
6
Faceoffs Won
8
24
Extra-Man Opps
3
3
Ground Balls
15
31
Game Leaders
G
3
A
3
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
1-30
GB
1
CT
0
G
2
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
2
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Lacrosse
M
/ Men's Lacrosse
LSM
/ Men's Lacrosse
A
/ Men's LacrosseA
/ Men's LacrosseA
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