Attack Unit Propels No. 2 Duke Past No. 19 Syracuse, 18-15

Saturday, April 29

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

12-2, 5-1ACC

Syracuse

8-7, 1-5ACC

Syracuse

Duke University

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Attack Unit Propels No. 2 Duke Past No. 19 Syracuse, 18-15

4/29/2023 4:26:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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DURHAM – Duke senior Dyson Williams scored six goals and an assist and junior Brennan O'Neill added six points to lead the second-ranked Blue Devils to an 18-15 victory over No. 19 Syracuse in ACC men's lacrosse action at Koskinen Stadium Saturday afternoon. With the win Duke clinches at least a share of the ACC title.

The Blue Devils improve to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in league action and conclude the regular season unbeaten at home with an 8-0 mark.

Duke's attack unit of Williams, O'Neill and Andrew McAdorey accounted for 17 of the team's 28 points, combining for 12 goals and five assists. In goal, graduate student Andrew Bonafede came off the bench to make seven saves in 33 minutes of action.Jake Naso won 22-of-35 faceoffs and picked up 11 ground balls.

How it Happened

Duke and Syracuse traded runs throughout the opening half. After trading goals in the first 10 minutes of the first period, the Blue Devils closed the quarter with two unanswered for a 5-3 lead. Williams tacked on a goal in the first possession of the second quarter to make it 6-3.
Keyed by two goals from Luke Rhoa, the Orange responded with a three-goal spurt to tie the game for the fourth time of the afternoon. Rhoa finished the game with three goals.
The Blue Devils punched right back, netting four goals in a span of 3:45 to head into halftime with a 10-6 lead. O'Neill had two in 53 seconds, while Williams finished on extra man off a pass fromGarrett Leadmon.
Syracuse cut the Blue Devils' lead to three a couple of times in the third quarter, but a 4-1 Duke run in the final 6:41 pushed the lead to 15-9 with 15 minutes left to play. Four different players scored goals in that stretch with Aidan Danenza starting the action. Williams turned in a highlight reel goal with the shot clock ticking down to make it 13-8, while Leadmon and O'Neill tallied unassisted scores to bookend the run.
The Orange caught fire on offense in the fourth quarter, scoring four goals in 2:25, to make it a two-goal game – the closest it had been since it was 8-6 at 5:53 of the second quarter. The Blue Devils buckled down on defense, getting two saves from Bonafede, and stayed steady offensively to stretch the lead back to four with 4:20 remaining. Williams found the net on extra man at 9:58 and Aidan Maguire notched his fourth of the year five minutes later to give Duke extra breathing room.
Duke iced the victory down the stretch, killing off a one-minute full-time penalty and then drawing a foul with 1:26 remaining to go up two players.Charles Balsamo capped the scoring for the afternoon finishing a feed from Williams for his 17th goal of the season. Duke finished 3-of-4 on extra man for the afternoon.
Defensively, Wilson Stephenson was excellent with two caused turnovers and three ground balls. The Blue Devils forced Syracuse into a game-high four turnovers in the fourth quarter.
Syracuse outshot Duke 45-39, including 24-14 in the second half, while Duke won the ground ball battle, 31-23. Joey Spallina had two goals and three assists to lead the way for the Orange on offense, while Will Mark made just 10 saves for the afternoon, just the third time this season he's had 10 or fewer stops.

Notes

Duke captures its 10th ACC title overall (1954, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2021, 2023). The Blue Devils have won 13 regular season crowns overall and seven ACC Tournament titles. The ACC Tournament decided the league champion from 1989-2019.
Duke moves to 8-0 at Koskinen Stadium this season. The Blue Devils improve to 140-25 at home under head coach John Danowski. They have gone unbeaten at home in the regular season four times under his watch (2008, 2012, 2021, 2023).
With 22 faceoff wins, junior Jake Naso became the 32nd player in NCAA history to win 700 career faceoffs. He ranks second in Duke history and is 105 shy of tying Brendan Fowler's Duke record of 816.
Brennan O'Neill's six points pushed him to 200 for his career. He is the 15th Blue Devil to reach the benchmark and the second fastest to do so, achieving the feat in 48 games. Justin Guterding is the fastest Blue Devil to get to 200 career points, hitting the mark in 47.
Duke's 18 goals against Syracuse mark just the eighth time the Blue Devils have scored at least 18 goals in an ACC regular season contest and the 10th against an ACC opponent overall.
The Blue Devils shot a season-high 46.2 percent. Syracuse goaltender Will Mark came into the game with a .556 save percentage and finished his day with a .357 save percentage (10 saves, 18 goals allowed) – his lowest of the season.
Dyson Williams recorded his third sock trick with six tallies. It also marks his 16th straight game with a goal. O'Neill pushed his goal streak to 23 consecutive games. They are two of 14 Division I players to have a goal in at least 15 straight games.
All four of O'Neill's goals this afternoon were unassisted. Of his 42 goals in 2023, 74 percent (31) are unassisted.

Up Next

The Blue Devils close out the regular season in a neutral site game against Merrimack, May 7.Faceoff is set for 1 p.m., at Bethpage High School in Bethpage, N.Y.

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