Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the game was virtually over before it even started.
Touted as a marquee matchup for No. 4 Duke in its ACC opener, the squad was blown out of the Carrier Dome 19-7 by No. 1 Syracuse Sunday afternoon in Syracuse, N.Y. The Orange remain the only undefeated team in Division I lacrosse, handing the Blue Devils their second loss of the season—the other coming against then-No. 1 Denver by a score of 17-13 Feb. 14.
“There were times when we just didn’t look well-coached today,” Duke head coach John Danowski said in his postgame press conference. “I was disappointed in some situational things and some plays that were happening over the course of the game. I thought we were further along.”
Duke (7-2, 0-1 in the ACC) fell into a deep hole early and never recovered. By halftime, the Orange (7-0, 2-0) held a 13-1 advantage due to a 34-12 shot mismatch.
A major part of the lopsided score sheet came down to Duke’s young defense. In the first period alone, the unit was pushed to its limits by a Syracuse squad that put on a clinic in every facet of the game. Although the Blue Devil offense averaged 16 goals per game entering the contest—good for first in the ACC and third nationally—the defense was on the field for the first half of the opening quarter before the offense got its first full possession.
With so much time on the field, the Duke defense faltered and was outhustled by a more experienced Syracuse team—by halftime the Orange held a 22-18 ground ball advantage.
“Syracuse had a really good game plan for our offense,” junior midfielder Myles Jones said at the Duke press conference. “We got frustrated not having the ball. We have to tip our cap to their coaching staff and their game plan. It really affected us going down in the first quarter and got us off our game. The wheels came off the bus after that.”
The success for the home squad started at the faceoff X. Despite the much-anticipated matchup between Blue Devil draw man Jack Rowe—second in the ACC with a 60.0 percent faceoff win percentage entering the day—and Syracuse specialist Ben Williams—first in the conference and fourth nationally with a 68.9 win percentage—the Orange dominated the draw.
Williams lost the opening faceoff but then won 11 straight at the faceoff X and grabbed 13-of-16 before heading into the locker room. When the final whistle sounded, Rowe failed to meet expectations against Williams—who dominated the matchup by winning 14 of 22 draws before earning an early exit late in the game with the score out of hand.
“[Williams] played great all game,” Rowe said. “Certainly I think it helped them when they were scoring goals and getting the ball right back. I certainly think that helped them build some momentum up. It would have been nice to have the ball on offense.”
Without much possession time for the Blue Devil offense, the Syracuse defense was able to shut down Jones, eliminating him from the game. Although the Huntington, N.Y., native entered the game with a hat trick in seven of eight outings this season—including five or more points in six of his contests—he failed to tally any goals from his eight shots.
Despite a tough day, the junior midfielder did extend his point streak to 26 straight games with his lone assist. The streak dates back to a 14-6 win Feb. 23, 2014 against Stony Brook.
“I thought Myles a couple of times tried to dodge into doubles and just didn’t make the simple pass—the easy pass,” Danowski said. “One of the things Myles has to learn—even though he is a junior—with all of the limelight and all of the articles and everything that is being read, there is a lot of responsibility that goes with that and sometimes you have to let the game come to you. I thought he tried to force the game.”
After not playing against Georgetown last weekend due to a nagging lower-body injury, junior attackman Case Matheis scored his sixth goal of the year on the third Duke possession of the game for the team’s lone first half score. Freshman attackman Justin Guterding joined in on the scoring as well to add to his team-leading goal total. With two goals in the contest, the Garden City, N.Y., native brought his total on the year to 29.
Looking to return to its winning ways, Duke will finish its three-game road stretch against North Carolina March 29 at Fetzer Field. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m.
“We are not the two-time defending champion [in playing through the struggle],” Danowski said. “Those two teams have come and gone. This is a very different team.”
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