PHILADELPHIA – Syracuse is the team that usually leaves opposing coaches and defenses flabbergasted. Most often, it’s a case of there being too many scoring threats in orange, and not enough defensive manpower for any opponent to cover them all.

Not for 60 minutes, hardly ever long enough to win.

“We had a team. We had a balanced team, and we used what we had very effectively and efficiently, and we did it all year long,” SU captain Brian Megill said.

On Monday, Duke (16-5) was that team. Syracuse (16-4) might’ve been if it had the ball more, but by the time it did the Blue Devils’ embarrassment of offensive riches had already done irreparable damage. There were simply too many Duke goal-scorers with too many quality possessions for the Orange to win.

There were seven, to be precise. And if Duke’s first-line midfield couldn’t crack the Syracuse defense, its second line would.

“When they’re not turning the ball over and they have all those possessions off of faceoffs, it’s pretty hard to try to get some kind of comeback against them,” SU head coach John Desko said.

The Blue Devils’ usual suspects led DU’s comeback and cruise operation, but the sprinkling-in of points from reserves like Myles Jones and Josh Offit made Duke simply too hard to defend.

Matt Pratt, an undersized but gritty SU defensive midfielder, threw a fierce crosscheck into Jones late in the first quarter. Jones ran straight through him. Pratt tumbled over. Jones’ shot bounced tamely off Dominic Lamolinara, but the message was clear, even as SU led 4-0. Duke had too many weapons to be contained for long.

Offit, too, ran through the Orange’s best defensive middies. Steve Ianzito got badly spun by Offit in the final minute of the third quarter and Offit buried his shot in the upper-right corner to make it 10-7 Duke, putting a nail in the coffin that was the third quarter.

In fairness to the SU defenders, the Blue Devils dominated possession through the second, third and fourth quarters.

“You’re going to wear down, but I didn’t think they had as much energy in the middle, late in the third quarter running out shots, as they did early in the game,” Duke head coach John Danowski said. “It’s just hard.”

The Orange defenders couldn’t chase down the stray shots Duke let fly, and when they did, the Blue Devils’ depth allowed them to get their first.

SU was trapped by Duke’s long bench that, in total, scored six points. It was the kind of performance the Orange is used to putting out. Instead, Syracuse lost to a dose of its own medicine.

Said Desko: “That kind of output out of their second group, that was something we thought we could have done.”

Published on May 27, 2013 at 9:04 pm

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