No. 4 Duke Opens ACC Play at No. 7 Syracuse Saturday

Saturday, March 28

Syracuse, NY

2 p.m.

Duke University

Syracuse

Brady Scioletti points at Michael Ortlieb in celebration after scoring a goal for Duke men's lacrosse

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 4 Duke Opens ACC Play at No. 7 Syracuse Saturday

3/27/2026 3:23:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

The Opening Faceoff

Duke opens ACC play with a top-10 battle at Syracuse Saturday on ESPNU. The Blue Devils are 8-0 overall and coming off a hard-fought win over No. 14 Denver last Saturday.
The Blue Devils are 8-0 and ranked No. 4 in the USILA poll, fifth by USA Lacrosse magazine and sixth in the Inside Lacrosse rankings. Syracuse is 8-2, unbeaten at home, and ranked fifth by Inside Lacrosse, seventh by the coaches and ninth by USA Lacrosse Magazine.
Junior Benn Johnston paces the offense with 27 goals and five assists for 32 points. Kyle Colsey is right behind him with 20 goals and seven assists for 27 points, while the trio of Brady Scioletti, Max Sloat and Liam Kershis pace the midfield with 22, 21 and 16, respectively. Mencke has a team-high 11 assists and Michael Ortlieb rounds out the attack trio with 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points.
The Blue Devils' stalwart defense is proving why it's considered one of the best in the country, holding teams to 6.88 goals and to just 29.3 shots per game. Charlie Johnson (13), Henry Bard (11), Will Pedicano (11) and Aidan Maguire (8) have combined for 43 caused turnovers and 65 ground balls. Johnson and Bard lead the close defense off the ground with 17 and 15 ground balls, respectively. In goal, Patrick Jameison has a 6.27 goals against average and a .557 save percentage.

By the Numbers
35 - Percent of Duke's points this season that have come from rookies
3 - Times in John Danowski's 20 years at Duke the Blue Devils have won the first eight games of a season
4 - Points needed for junior Benn Johnston to reach the 100-point benchmark
20 - Goals in seven games for Kyle Colsey - the most of any rookie in the ACC
1 - Games this season Duke has allowed double-digit goals - 10 versus Jacksonville
7 - Times this season the Orange have scored at least 12 goals in a game
6.27 - Patrick Jameison's goals against average, the lowest of any Division I goalie this season
7.43 - Saves per game for Jameison, 65th nationally and signifying the stalwart defensive effort in front of the junior goalie
.704 - Duke's opponent clear percentage this season, ranking second nationally
36 - Percent increase in faceoff success for junior Cal Girard this season, going from 47 percent in 2025 to 64 percent in 2026

Series History

Duke and Syracuse face off for the 28th time overall and for the 18th time as ACC foes. The Orange lead the series 16-11 and are 6-1 all-time in the Dome against the Blue Devils. The two teams split the games last year with Duke rolling to an 11-7 victory in Durham. Syracuse edged Duke, 9-8, in the ACC Championship title game last season.
This will be the 25th matchup with both teams ranked in the top 20 and the 16th with both squads in the top 10. Duke is 10-14 all-time when both teams are ranked and 8-5 when ranked higher.

Against Ranked Opponents

Under John Danowski, Duke is 145-77 (.653) versus USILA top-20 opponents. Sunday's game will be Duke's third against a top-20 foe this season.
Duke went 5-5 last season against ranked teams and was 3-3 when ranked higher. The Blue Devils were 3-2 in home games against a top-20 foe in 2025. Duke is 2-0 this season with wins over Saint Joseph and Denver.

What Gives?

Saturday's matchup features two of the statistically top offensive teams and a pair of quality defenses. The Orange's 10th-ranked scoring offense goes up against the country's second-ranked scoring defense and Duke's top-ranked offense battles the No. 14 defense. Both squads are holding their opponents to under 23-percent shooting. On the other end of the field, both Duke and Syracuse are shooting 32 percent.

Blue Devils Versus the Orange

Duke is facing Syracuse for eighth time since 2022, playing the Orange twice in 2023, 2024 and 2025. However, only Henry Bard, Max Sloat, Jack Pappendick, Aidan Maguire, Benn Johnston and Patrick Jameison have played inside the JMA Wireless Dome.
Patrick Jameison has fared well against the Orange overall, stopping 63 percent of shots faced. In his lone outing in the dome, Jameison made 14 saves and allowed just 10 goals.

Youth Movement

The Blue Devils have started two freshmen at attack all season, marking the first time head coach John Danowski gave the nod to two rookies in a season opener. The last time Duke had two freshmen start regularly at attack was three games into the 2011 season with Jordan Wolf and Christian Walsh. It's been a combination of Kyle Colsey, Brady Scioletti and Michael Ortlieb down at attack with Colsey and Ortlieb running on the unit for the past five games. Duke is the lone program to have three freshman rank among the top 20 in goals by a rookie - Colsey (5th), Scioletti (13th) and Ortlieb (20th).
The trio of Colsey, Ortlieb and Scioletti has combined for 70 points - the most by any rookie trio in the past 20 seasons. Duke is the lone school to have three freshmen averaging at least 1.60 goals per game this season. They all rank among the top 17 freshmen in points per game - Colsey (8th), Colsey (17th), Scioletti (17th)
Scioletti has found a home on the first midfield and had a big outing against Saint Joseph's with four goals and two assists. Each of them have had their big days this season. Ortlieb opened the year with a hat trick. Colsey fired home six goals against Vermont and five versus Providence. Ortlieb recently had three goals and four assists at Air Force.
Overall, nine of the 10 Blue Devil true freshmen have seen action with Ortlieb, Scioletti, Anthony Drago, Will Tantillo and Will Pedicano playing significant minutes. Pedicano is third among freshmen in caused turnovers (1.57/gm) and the top rookie LSM in takeaways.