Balsamo Overtime Goal Sends No. 5 Duke Past Syracuse, 14-13

Sunday, March 5

Syracuse, NY

4 p.m.

Duke University

5-1, 1-0ACC

Syracuse

3-3, 0-2ACC

Duke University

Syracuse

Photo by: Syracuse University

Balsamo Overtime Goal Sends No. 5 Duke Past Syracuse, 14-13

3/5/2023 8:59:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Duke freshman midfielder Charles Balsamo scored with 54 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the fifth-ranked Blue Devils to a thrilling 14-13 victory at No. 20 Syracuse Sunday afternoon. The road win over the Orange is the first in Duke men's lacrosse history.

Duke used a 6-0 run in the third quarter to go ahead for the first time with 3:36 in the period. The action in the final 18 minutes was back and forth with Syracuse tying the game, 13-13, on an extra-man goal at the 2:04 mark to set up the overtime session.

Junior Brennan O'Neill led the Blue Devils once again with four goals and two assists for six points. Balsamo finished with two goals and one helper. Duke improves to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in ACC play with the win.

How it Happened

The Blue Devils trailed 5-1 after the first 13:32but buckled down defensively for the final 49:34, letting in just eight goals. Duke led for 16:32 in the game.
Leading 13-11 with 8:07 remaining in the fourth quarter after a goal from Dyson Williams, the Blue Devils were denied in the final minutes with four saves from Syracuse goalie Will Mark. He finished the game with 22 saves.
Orange attackman Cole Kirst made it a one-goal game at the 2:59 mark – his fourth of the day – and 55 seconds later Finn Thomas tied the game on the extra-man score. Kirst finished with four goals and one assist.
With 46 seconds remaining on the full-time penalty, Duke locked down and never let the Orange get a clear shot at goal. William Helm made the save on the doorstep from Joey Spallina. Duke cleared and got a shot off but was denied once again by Mark.
The overtime session mirrored the previous 60 minutes as Duke won the opening faceoff but had shots from Andrew McAdorey and Owen Caputo stopped by Mark.
Helm returned the favor on Syracuse's ensuing possession, making his 10th save of the afternoon and giving Duke back for Balsamo's stinger from the right side.
Syracuse jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter. Duke graduate student Tommy Schelling had the lone goal for Duke – his first as a Blue Devil.
Duke scored three goals in a span of 34 seconds early in the second quarter to make it a one-goal game, 5-4. Three different Blue Devils – Garrett Leadmon, O'Neill and McAdorey – netted goals. Syracuse hit back with three straight to go back in front, 8-4, midway through the second period before Balsamo and O'Neill tacked on goals in the final three minutes to send Duke into halftime trailing by two, 8-6.
While the offense was firing on all cylinders, Duke's defense was equally as stellar in holding the Orange to just three shots and without a goal for the final 12:56. Syracuse had five turnovers in the third quarter.
The Blue Devils continued to stymie the Syracuse offense in the fourth quarter keeping the Orange off the board until the 9:11 mark – a span of 18:45 between their 10th and 11th goals –'
Jake Naso won 21-of-30 faceoffs and picked up 12 ground balls for Duke. The Blue Devils fired a season-high 66 shots and picked up 43 ground balls. Syracuse had 32 and 27, respectively.

Notes

Duke improves to 126-55 against top-20 foes since 2007.
The Blue Devils are 91-76 all-time in one-goal games and 32-22 in games decided by one goal under head coach John Danowski. Duke is 16-7 in overtime games since 2007 and 30-23-1 all-time in overtime.
Tommy Schelling recorded his first goal as a Blue Devil in the first quarter. He arrived at Duke as a graduate student transfer having scored 90 goals at Lehigh.
Brennan O'Neill recorded four goals to push his goal streak to 15 games. He has 53 goals in that stretch dating back to March 5, 2022. The hat trick was the third this season and 23rd of his career.
Duke held Syracuse without a goal for a span of 18:45 in the third and fourth quarters marking the fifth time this season the Blue Devils have not allowed a goal for at least 15 minutes.
Jake Naso improved to 5-0 in overtime faceoffs as he forced Syracuse to jump on the OT draw. Duke is 4-1 in those overtime contests. Naso is 49-28 (.636) in fourth-quarter faceoffs in games decided by two goals or less.
With 21 faceoff victories, Naso is 30 wins away from becoming the second Blue Devil to 600 career victories at the dot. He is 570-of-949 (.601) for his career.
Helm recorded his fourth double-digit save performance as a Blue Devil, making 11 saves overall. Tyler Carpenter picked up six ground balls, his 18th career game with at least five ground balls.

Duke's 66 shots are the most in a game under head coach John Danowski. Only two other times have the Blue Devils taken at least 60 shots in a contest – 62 vs. Holy Cross in 2009 and 61 vs. Loyola in 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Quotes
John Danowski on the game
"For the third week in a row we've played in one of these [close] contests. I don't know if I've ever been involved where statistically it's been so skewed. It's really a credit to Syracuse, credit to their skill, their poise and their ability to make plays and certainly their goalie [Will Mark]. I've never coached in a game where a goalie made 27 saves. Somebody said that we hit 12 pipes. I know we hit a few early in first quarter. Now 12, I don't know if that's true or not true. It was an ACC game and it was a terrific college event and we're very proud to be a part of it."

On what changed for Duke in the third quarter
"I said to the guys 'We're down 5-1 – you're doing fine.' We gave up two man-up goals and we gave up a goal on the faceoff. Just stay the course. Even at halftime I said, 'You're playing fine.' It was 8-6 and we looked at the stats and we had 32 shots and we had more ground balls and won some faceoffs – just stay the course. In the third quarter, Garrett Leadmon gets that one after Andrew McAdorey picks up that big ground ball in the corner with the shot clock running down. Brennan [O'Neill] gets the next one. Dyson [Williams] gets one when Syracuse went offsides. So we took advantage of a couple of mistakes. We were able to run a little bit and all of a sudden – in these games someone has to make a play – and I think we had great ball movement all day and were very unselfish. But I also thought we took advantage of some opportunities that just presented themselves."

On the special teams today
"First all of all [Syracuse's] man-up is terrific, very unselfish. Six really dynamite individuals and they play really well together so being in the penalty box is something we didn't want to do. We were man-down six times so you're going to give up some goals. Also they made some great individual plays. [Cole] Kirst had a terrific day. He got to his right hand and was able to release the ball and so some of their individuals shined. They're going to get better and better as the season goes on."

On what he told the team before overtime
"In overtime we always tell them no regrets. You have to make the play, whatever that is. Don't think, don't hesitate. If you don't make it, you don't make it. But you have to play to win. You can't be on your heels. And Charles [Balsamo] as a freshman makes a play at the end. Charles had some off earlier in the third quarter where his body language is not what I like. I said to him 'Keep your head up. You're playing in this huge game and you're doing great. Yeah, you missed a shot or did something. Later on he comes back and makes a play and that's a great lesson for a freshman."

Up Next

Duke returns home for a three-game homestand. The Blue Devils welcome No. 7 Loyola to Durham, March 10 at 7 p.m., before hosting North Carolina March 17 at 6 p.m.

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