O’Neill Scores 200th Goal; Complete Team Performance Sends Duke to ACC Title Game

Friday, May 3

Charlotte, N.C.

8 p.m.

Duke University

12-4

Syracuse

11-5

Duke

Syracuse

Photo by: Duke Athletics

O’Neill Scores 200th Goal; Complete Team Performance Sends Duke to ACC Title Game

5/4/2024 12:19:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

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CHARLOTTE, N.C.— In an outstanding overall team performance highlighted by standout offensive performances from Andrew McAdorey and Brennan O'Neill, the third-seeded Blue Devils upended No. 2 seed Syracuse 18-13 in the semifinal of the 2024 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship Friday night at American Legion Memorial Stadium.

McAdorey finished his night with a career-high five goals and an assist, while O'Neill had four goals and two assists to become the third Blue Devil and eighth player in NCAA Division I history to score 200 in his career.

Defensively, Duke (12-4) held Syracuse (11-5) to two goals in the first quarter and one in the third with rookie goaltender Patrick Jameison making 12 saves in the victory. The Orange were just 2-of-6 (.333) on extra man after coming into the game at 43.6 percent.

How it Happened

Duke came out rolling on offense, scoring five goals in the first 4:29. McAdorey had two while Dyson Williams, Josh Zawada, and Max Sloat tacked on markers for the 5-0 advantage before Syracuse even got an offensive possession.
Freshman Cal Girard was outstanding at the faceoff dot in the early going, winning the six first and nine of the 12 in the quarter.
Syracuse had its first possession of the game just over five minutes into the game, firing off two shots before the Blue Devils forced a turnover. The Orange capitalized on a Duke turnover and a Blue Devil penalty to bring the game back within three, 5-2, with 6:16 to play in the opening period.
McAdorey completed a first-quarter hat trick to make it 6-2. O'Neill rifled one past Syracuse keeper Will Mark 35 seconds later to extend the Duke lead back to five and Williams scored on extra-man two minutes later for the 8-2 advantage. Grant Mitchell capped the quarter with his third goal of the season with nine seconds left, sending Duke into the first break ahead, 9-2.
Syracuse scored the first three goals in a span of 2:15 of the second quarter to pull within four again. McAdorey ended Duke's scoring drought at 11:20 to get the Blue Devils to 10 goals and a five-goal edge with under four left in the first half.
O'Neill sandwiched a goal between a pair of Orange tallies in the final minutes of the half to send Duke into the locker room with the 11-6 advantage.
The third quarter was all Blue Devils after Syracuse scored a man-up goal to start the period. O'Neill and Williams both had two tallies and McAdorey registered his fifth of the evening in the 5-0 run over a span of 10 minutes for the 16-7 lead after 45 minutes of action.
Zawada gave Duke its largest lead of the night to start the fourth quarter before Syracuse ended its scoreless stretch at 16:42. The goal from Sam English sparked a 6-1 Orange run to close the game. Syracuse scored twice in the final 11 seconds to bring it to the 18-13 final.
Girard finished the game 14-of-29 and picked up nine ground balls.
Joey Spallina paced Syracuse with four goals on seven shots.

Notes

Duke's nine goals in the first quarter were the most by the Blue Devils this season and the most in a quarter since scoring 10 against Robert Morris Feb. 4, 2022.
The Blue Devils improve to 23-22 in ACC Tournament action and 16-14 in semifinal games. Duke is now 1-3 against Syracuse in the ACC Championship and will vie Notre Dame for its eighth ACC title.
The 18 goals scored by Duke are the second most by a Blue Devil team in an ACC Tournament game.
Junior Andrew McAdorey scored a career-high five goals. The five points were the most for him this season and the sixth time in his career he has had five points in a game.
Brennan O'Neill's four goals pushed his career total to 201, making him the third Blue Devil to reach the 200-goal benchmark and the eighth in NCAA history to do so. He finished his night with sixth points to leave him one point shy of becoming the 22nd player in NCAA Division I history to reach 300 and the fourth in Duke lore.
O'Neill has nine hat tricks this season and 38 in his career. The six points mark his ninth such performance in 2024 and the 31st of his career. He now has 26 career points in six games against the Orange.
Dyson Williams registered his 40th career hat trick and the 10th of the season with four goals. He sits at 199 career goals.
Patrick Jameison recorded 12 saves to post his 11th double-digit save performance of the season.
Duke held Syracuse without a goal for 16:42 marking the 10th time this season the Blue Devils have held an opponent scoreless for at least 15 minutes.
Cal Girard won a career-high 14 faceoffs on a career-high 29 faceoffs taken. He entered the game having lined up at the dot 62 times for the Blue Devils.

Up Next

Duke takes on top-ranked Notre Dame in the ACC Championship title game Sunday, May 5 at noon on ACC Network.

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