Durham, North Carolina – Duke trailed Syracuse early in the first quarter and then run away with the contest against the Orange by a score of 21-7. The first midfield combined for twelve goals and the combination of face offs win was just too much for the Orange to keep pace with.
Much like last year’s National Championship game, face offs had a significant impact on the game. Brendan Fowler faced a varied lineup for opponents on the day and helped keep Syracuse on its heals against the Duke offensive. After Syracuse scored the their first two goals of the game, Duke would rattled off twelve of the next fourteen to take a decided advantage in the game.
Duke opened the scoring when sophomore midfielder Deemer Class scored, beating Syracuse goalie Dominic Lamolinara. His first goal of a career high six on the day. Syracuse would answer with two of their own. The first goal came from sophomore Derek DeJoe on the extra man, scoring off an assist from Dylan Donahue. The second goal came from Nick Galasso on a dodge from behind the cage. This was Galasso’s first trip back to Duke since his days as a Tar Heel.
To end the quarter, Duke would go on a run that would not allow Syracuse to have a chance to catch up. Myles Jones, sophomore midfielder, would score his first of the day to tie the game at two. Jones would end the day with five goals. Syracuse held strong, stopping the Duke offense, but on the clear Josh Dionne intercepts the clearing pass and beats Lamolinara to give the Blue Devils the lead. Jordan Wolf scored, beating his defender above goal line extended, to push the lead to 4-2 Duke. The quarter would end with Duke getting four more goals, extending the lead to 8-2 in their favor.
Myles Jones and senior midfielder Christian Walsh both scored to open the second quarter as Duke increased its lead to 10-2. All of the members of Dukes first midfield scored in the first half. Syracuse finally broke Duke’s run when Randy Stats, junior attackman, dodged through the defense and put a backhand shot past starting goalie Luke Aaron. Randy Stats would find Billy Ward for a goal, but Deemer Class stole the show getting his sixth tally of the half. The halftime lead was 13-4 in favor of Duke.
Bobby Wardwell replaced Dominic Lamolinara for Syracuse, as the second half got under way. Jordan Wolf scores on an early extra man opportunity to push the lead to ten. Kevin Rice scored to chip away at the lead, making the score 14-5. Jones and Dionne score to push the lead to 16-5 and senior face off specialist Brendan Fowler continued his dominance allowing Duke to continue the pressure on the Syracuse defense.
Starting the fourth quarter, Duke held the lead at sixteen to six. Senior attackman Derek Maltz finished the scoring for Syracuse, giving the Orange seven goals on the day. Deemer Class finished the day with ten points on six goals and four assists. Myles Jones added five goals, while line mate Christian Walsh added one. Brendan Fowler won 24 of 31 face offs on the day.
Next up for Syracuse is fellow ACC newcomer Notre Dame in the Carrier Dome, while Duke takes on Harvard at home.
