Not even the wet weather could cool down Duke’s red-hot offense Sunday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
In a rematch of last year’s national championship game, No. 3 Duke trounced No. 6 Syracuse 21-7. After trailing 2-1 3:25 into the game, the Blue Devils went on a 10-0 run in just 17:25 to seize control and put the game away early.
Like the rain that continued throughout the game, the Blue Devils never relented, putting up a season-high 21 goals and winning the second half 8-3 after taking a 13-4 lead into the locker room. With its effort in the second half, Duke squashed any possible comeback hopes and put the finishing touches on its best 60-minute performance of the season.
“I think you’re starting to see the evolution of some individuals, but also of a group of kids who are starting to understand how we play,” head coach John Danowski said. “Whatever you did well you’ve got to put that behind you, and whatever you did poorly you’ve got to put behind you. We had to come out again focused in the third quarter.”
The Blue Devils (8-2, 2-1 in the ACC) wasted no time attacking a conservative Syracuse defense, scoring 40 seconds into the game on when senior attack Christian Walsh fed sophomore midfielder Deemer Class for the first of his six goals on the afternoon.
The Orange (4-3, 0-3) quickly responded to Duke’s early goal with two of their own by taking advantage of a Brendan Fowler holding penalty and an unassisted Nicky Galasso goal, but had no answer for Duke’s quickness and unselfishness.
The Blue Devils were able to score with ease against Syracuse’s man and zone defenses, scoring six goals during the rest of the quarter to take a commanding 8-2 lead. Class recorded a hat trick just 12 minutes into the game.
“It was a product of great ball movement,” Class said. “In our offense, we would try to draw two and move it, move it, move it—I was just on the receiving end of a lot of it. It was just a product of my teammates moving the ball and great teamwork.”
The play of the game gave Duke the lead for good with 8:43 left in the first period when senior attack Josh Dionne stole an errant clear-out attempt by Syracuse goalie Dominic Lamolinara and cashed in for an easy goal.
“[That was] a huge boost for the team,” Class said. “A senior like that stepping up and making a huge play gets everyone fired up. We just followed in Josh’s footsteps after that.”
After Dionne and senior attack Jordan Wolf showed they were too quick for Syracuse’s defenders, the Orange were forced to sit back in a conservative zone defense—one that Class and 6-foot-4 sophomore midfielder Myles Jones dissected with their long-range shooting.
With Fowler winning more than 75 percent of the faceoffs against a trio of Syracuse specialists, the game turned into Duke exhibiting its zone offense and taking target practice while the Orange offense watched helplessly. The Blue Devils outshot Syracuse 57-27.
Class finished with a career-high six goals and four assists and Jones added a career-high five goals and one helper. Walsh facilitated Duke’s scoring outburst—leading the team with six assists and scoring a goal—and Wolf and Dionne still managed to combine for nine goals by finding openings against the zone.
“I think the reason their zone was so tight is that we have great attackmen,” Jones said. “They’re great finishers inside, so I think they were more worried about those guys. They tested us [midfielders] to see if we were able to make those shots and we came up big today.”
Duke sophomore goalie Luke Aaron was not needed often, finishing with just five saves, but the Duke defense did its part, accounting for several of Syracuse’ 16 turnovers and helping the Blue Devils maintain a 38-17 advantage in ground balls. Duke keyed on Syracuse’s leading scorers—Kevin Rice and Dylan Donahue—holding the pair to just one goal and one assist combined.
“The fear is don’t let this game be the peak of the season,” Danowski said. “[We want to] allow this game to show the possibilities if you practice well, prepare well and play right. We don’t want this game to define us, [or] to be the best game of individuals’ years and the best effort of the team.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.