The Blue Devils were swamped in the storm and struggled against an aggressive Orange squad on Homecoming evening.
Duke fell short in a lopsided 3-1 defeat against Syracuse Friday night at Koskinen Stadium, keeping the Blue Devils winless in conference games this season. The Orange scored twice in the first half—including an own goal right before halftime—and blitzed through Duke's defense again in the first minute of the second half. Senior midfielder Zach Mathers tallied the only goal for the Blue Devils on a penalty kick in the 77th minute, but they could not pull any closer after falling behind 3-0.
"We were second-best today in many facets of the game. They were first to the ball, and they wanted it more," Duke head coach John Kerr said. "In particular [in] the first half, we didn’t adapt to the condition of the game, and we didn’t have enough energy. They are a very good team and if you allow them time and space to play, they are going to hurt you."
Playing in the pouring rain, both teams started slow with limited offensive success. Long shots from distance were the only threat posed to the goalkeepers. But Syracuse (7-2-1, 2-1-1 in the ACC) soon raised the intensity of its midfield defense and slowly gained control of the ball, leading to a series of attacks along the sidelines.
The breakthrough came in the 26th minute, when Orange sophomore midfielder Julian Buescher maneuvered through the field on the left wing, blasting into Duke's penalty area after a quick give-and-go with redshirt junior midfielder Liam Callahan. Facing Blue Devil goalkeeper Wilson Fisher, Buescher launched the ball into the lower-right corner of the net, putting Syracuse up 1-0.
With one goal in their pocket, the Orange continued the siege, practically living on the opponent's side of the field. Unable to retaliate with its own offense on the soggy field, Duke (4-4-2, 0-3-1) settled for lobs and long balls to initiate counterattacks, proven futile again and again by the strong wind sweeping across the field. Syracuse outshot Duke 10-2 in the first half, and the Blue Devils did not register a shot on goal.
"The rain just made an ugly game in all honesty. It was hard to play soccer, especially in the wind, so a lot of it was long ball," Mathers said. "The game tonight came down to who worked harder and they outworked us in the first half."
With time winding down in the last minute of the first half, the Orange made one final push when Buescher crossed a free kick toward Duke's goal. In the pouring rain, the fast-moving cross hit a Blue Devil defender, accidentally poking the ball into the bottom of the net for an own goal as the team suffered another deflating blow before heading back to the locker room.
Things did not improve for Duke in the second half. Off a Syracuse corner kick in the first minute after intermission, Buescher fired a deflected long shot from Callahan just outside the Blue Devils' penalty area. Fisher—already leaping for a save in the other direction—had no choice but to watch the ball roll past him into the net.
But Duke refused to go down without a fight. As the rain got heavier and the wind stronger, the Blue Devils started to pick up their physicality against the Orange, trying to regain control of the game. With three goals on the scoreboard, Syracuse retreated back to its own half of the field, leaving room at midfield for Duke to press forward.
One of the best chances came from a free-kick cross, when the ball was delivered right to the feet of graduate student defender Jared Rist inches away from the goal line—but the Durham, N.C., native shot the ball wide against an empty net.
The Blue Devils' efforts paid off when the Orange defense committed a foul in their penalty area during a corner kick. Standing at the 12-yard spot, Mathers punched the ball into the net on the penalty kick, capitalizing on the opportunity late in the second half to get Duke on the scoreboard.
"We really changed our attitude. It wasn’t good in the first half. We came out way better in the second half and we put them under some pressure," Mathers said. "It was hard for them to deal with that. That’s how we got our second-half goal, pressing them, getting into their face a little bit."
With rain flooding the pitch, it became increasingly difficult to pass or dribble the ball across the field as the game approached its finale. After the penalty kick, Duke never created any promising chances to make a difference on the scoresheet.
"We got one goal back and missed another simple chance to get the second goal and then we were just short on quality to get the third goal," Kerr said. "Hopefully we can learn from this and bounce back."
The Blue Devils will host No. 23 Hofstra Monday before facing another ACC opponent, No. 7 Notre Dame, on the road Oct. 10.
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