A couple of late goals by the men's lacrosse team was not enough to beat perennial powerhouse and second-ranked Syracuse, as the Blue Devils fell to the Orangemen 10-9 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament at Hofstra Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Trailing 9-6 at the end of the third quarter, the two teams traded goals until Matt Monfett tossed one into the back of the net at the 5:59 mark to make it a 10-8 game. Junior Kevin Cassese then scored an unassisted goal with 2:31 left, to pull the Blue Devils within one, but Syracuse (13-2) was able to withstand a Duke (8-7) rally in the waning minutes.
In the end, the Blue Devils, which scored 17 unanswered goals to cream Hobart in the first round of the NCAA tournament, simply ran out of luck.
"I am very proud of the way we came to play this afternoon against a very good Syracuse team," coach Mike Pressler said. "Give credit to Syracuse. They've been to 19 straight Final Fours before this season and that isn't an accident."
Duke took a quick 2-0 lead to start the game on a pair of goals by Monfett and Dan Chemotti before Syracuse responded with a 5-0 run late in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Blue Devils netted two, one by Matt Rewkowski and another by Kevin Brennan, and Syracuse's Spencer Wright scored one to make it a 6-4 game, favoring the Orangemen, at the end of the half.
By all accounts, Duke outplayed Syracuse most of the day, but in the end it did not translate into the win. Duke won 20-of-23 face-offs--including 12-of-13 by Cassese--and outshot Syracuse 40-38. The Blue Devils also grabbed 47 ground balls, compared to Syracuse's 20.
"I thought we played with a lot of heart and emotion and we certainly had our chances," Pressler said.
The Orangemen, who have made 20 consecutive final fours and won seven national championships, now travel to Rutgers to face No. 3 Virginia in the semifinals.
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