No. 2 Duke and No. 4 Syracuse Face Off in Durham Thursday

Thursday, March 25

Durham, N.C.

7 P.M.

Duke University

Syracuse

Duke celebrates a goal against Air Force

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 2 Duke and No. 4 Syracuse Face Off in Durham Thursday

3/24/2021 1:33:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Watch | ACCN Live Stats Game Program Game Notes

The Opening Faceoff

Duke is 8-0, its best start through eight games since the 2008 squad started 8-0. The Blue Devils are coming off a 10-day break after playing three games in eight days. Duke has not allowed more than eight goals in each of its past six victories.
Duke once again had a balanced offensive effort against Jacksonville. Michael Sowers had a goal and six assists, while Brennan O'Neill had five goals. Ten different Blue Devils scored in the win. Duke held Jacksonville scoreless for 26:01, going on an 11-0 run in that span.
Thursday's matchup will be the first ACC game for the Blue Devils and second for Syracuse. The Orange beat Virginia, 20-10, on Feb. 27 behind seven points from Brendan Curry.
Duke and Syracuse have met as ACC foes nine times, including three meetings in the ACC Tournament. The Orange are 7-2 against Duke since joining the ACC with five of the wins coming by a single goal and three games going into overtime.
The weekday contest against Syracuse game will be the first of four Thursday night games for the Blue Devils in 2021. All of them will be televised by ACC Network.

Duke – Syracuse by the Numbers
25 – Assists needed for Michael Sowers to break Pat Spencer's NCAA career assists mark of 231

.406 – Duke's shot percentage in 2021, the best in the ACC and third nationally

9 – Points Nakeie Montgomery needs to join the 100-point club at Duke

.343 – Syracuse's shot percentage heading into Thursday night

.241 – Duke's opponent shooting percentage in 2021

17.25 – Duke's goals scored per game average this season, second in the ACC and third nationally

712 – Days since Duke has played an ACC game, dating back to

26.2 – Goals scored average in the past 10 games between the Blue Devils and Orange

Duke Off to an 8-0 Start

Duke made it through its non-conference slate with an 8-0 record and went undefeated in the month of February for the first time since 2014. The 8-0 start is the best since and going 8-0 in 2008. The Blue Devils' highwater mark is 11-0 in 2005. Under head coach John Danowski, Duke has gone unbeaten three times in February – 2-0 in 2007 and 2008 and 4-0 in 2014.
Not only do the Blue Devils have an unblemished record, they've done so in convincing fashion, sporting a 9.25 scoring margin to rank second in the ACC and third nationally.

Scouting Syracuse

Syracuse is 4-1 overall following a 15-6 win over Holy Cross. The Orange's lone loss was versus Army in their season opener. They are 1-0 in ACC play with a 20-10 win over Virginia on Feb. 27.
Stephen Rehfuss leads the offense with 25 points from 12 goals and 13 assists, while rookie Owen Hiltz has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points. Twelve Orange players have at least one goal with Chase Scanlan leading the attack with 14. The Orange are averaging 16.0 goals per game and 46.6 shots per game.
Defensively, Syracuse is allowing 11.2 goals per game and is anchored by Drake Porter in goal with a .570 save percentage and 10.61 goals against average. Brett Kennedy and Grant Murphy have six caused turnovers apiece. At the faceoff X, Jakob Phaup has taken 77 percent of the restarts and sports a .590 win percentage (69-of-117).

What gives?

Thursday's game will pit Syracuse's high scoring offense against the Blue Devils' stingy defense. The Orange come to Durham averaging 16 goals per game, while Duke is giving up just eight.
Syracuse is averaging 46.6 shots per game and is shooting .343 to rank ninth nationally. Defensively, the Blue Devils are holding opponents to 33.3 shots per game and .241 shooting, ranking 10th nationally and second in the ACC behind Notre Dame's .176. Duke has not allowed more than eight goals in the past six games and Syracuse has scored at least 15 in its past four outings.

Breaking Down the Blue Devils

Michael Sowers is the top scorer with 44 points (18g, 26a), while Joe Robertson has 29 (21, 8) in his six games. Nakeie Montgomery (10, 12) has 22, his second highest season total. Brennan O'Neill (22g, 5a) has 27 after netting five against High Point and Jacksonville. Twenty-two different players have scored at least one goal and 11 have at least five goals. Duke's attack trio has 46 percent (100-of-218) of the team's points.
Like on offense, Duke has depth at the defensive end with two rope units - Terry Lindsay, Jake Caputo, Garrett Leadmon, Blake Leischow and Matt Chmil – and two experienced goaltenders in Mike Adler and Turner Uppgren. The close defense is anchored by All-American JT Giles-Harris, junior Wilson Stephenson and sophomore Kenny Brower. Wilson Stephenson earned his first start down low against High Point, allowing Tyler Carpenter to run at LSM and on the faceoff wing. Duke's scoring defense is second in the ACC and seventh nationally.

Defending Home Turf

Koskinen Stadium has treated the Blue Devils well over the years, being the home to countless memorable moments.
Since 2007, Danowski teams are 120-23 at Koskinen for an 84 percent success rate.

A Win Over Syracuse Would

Be head coach John Danowski's 427th career win
Be Danowski's 208th win at Duke
Be Danowski's 32nd ACC victory
Be the program's 597th overall victory
Make Duke 230-132 in the month of March

Duke Against Top 10 Foes

When Duke and Syracuse meet Thursday, it will be the 110th time the Blue Devils have played a top 10 opponent since 2007. Duke is 68-41 in the games and Duke is 41-17 when ranked higher.
Duke and Syracuse are playing for the 10th time with both programs ranked in the top 10 and for the first time since 2016. Syracuse is 7-2 overall and 3-1 when ranked lower. This is the sixth time the Blue Devils and Orange play when both ranked in the top five.

Get the Popcorn Ready

A Duke versus Syracuse lacrosse matchup is guaranteed to be packed with nail-biting action.
In the 14 meetings between the two programs since 2009, they have combined to average 26.2 goals per game and eight have been decided by three or fewer goals. In only six of the outings did one of the teams fail to score at least 10 goals and twice the two have combined for 30-plus tallies. The lowest scoring game between the Blue Devils and Orange was the 2019 matchup, a 9-8 overtime win for the Orange.
Five of the past six outings between the two teams have been decided by a single goal and three have gone into overtime.

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