DURHAM, N.C. — Finally, the ball was back in a Syracuse stick on Syracuse’s side of the field.

SU defender Brandon Mullins scooped up a ball dropped by Duke’s Myles Jones, cleared it himself and flipped it to attack Dylan Donahue. At last, the SU offense had a chance to respond to the Blue Devils’ dominant first quarter.

But as the Orange looked to set up its attack, Donahue’s pass up top fell five yards short of freshman Nick Weston. Weston couldn’t handle it and the ball bounced out to midfield, where the Blue Devils pounced on it and gained possession once again.

“We weren’t able to get anything going offensively,” SU head coach John Desko said. “We didn’t get early opportunities. When we did, we turned the ball over.

“It just wasn’t a good day.”

Considering Duke’s authority over the faceoff X, perhaps offensive efficiency by SU may not have even been enough to knock off the high-octane Blue Devils offense – but the Orange’s attack never found a rhythm on which to build. The end result was a 21-7 beating of No. 6 Syracuse (4-3, 0-3 Atlantic Coast) at the hands of reigning national champion No. 4 Duke (8-2, 2-1) at a rainy Koskinen Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

In Syracuse’s upset of Johns Hopkins on March 15, its attack was efficient enough to make up for its lack of possessions earned at the X. The Orange was methodical, made the most of each possession and limited its turnovers to seven against the Blue Jays.

But against the Blue Devils on Sunday, the SU attack took a step backward.

“We turned the ball over more than we’d like to, especially with the way we were losing possessions,” attack Kevin Rice said. “If possessions are going to be limited, we’re going to have to value them more.”

The Orange built a 2-1 lead early with scores by Derek DeJoe and Nicky Galasso, but after that came a dry spell of possessions. After Luke Aaron saved a Galasso shot at the 10:39 mark of the first quarter, the Orange’s attack didn’t see the ball until the final two minutes of the period.

By then, Duke led 8-2.

“You’re just standing there watching them play,” SU attack Randy Staats said, “and you want the ball to do something with. It’s definitely a little frustrating.”

But even when Syracuse had the ball, it wasn’t in good care. The Orange committed 16 turnovers, its second-highest total of the season. At times the wet, muddy grass at Koskinen Stadium wasn’t the sloppiest thing on the field.

With no Blue Devils within 10 yards of him, SU midfielder Mike Messina dropped what would’ve been an easy clearing pass in the second quarter. Drew Jenkins won the faceoff to open the second half, but while eluding Duke’s defense, he stepped out of bounds.

The shot efficiency that carried Syracuse over Johns Hopkins disappeared as well. Rice scored, but just once on six shots. All three of Hakeem Lecky’s attempts missed the cage completely. The Orange scored on 40 percent of its shots against the Blue Jays, but connected on just 25.9 percent against Duke.

It’s arguable that even drastically improved efficiency with the ball wouldn’t have saved Syracuse from being blown out by Duke. But its clear improved play from the attack will be needed going forward–and that starts when the Orange hosts Notre Dame on Saturday.

Said Desko: “We’re going to have to put this one behind us quick, because we have to get focused on Notre Dame.”

Published on March 23, 2014 at 6:28 pm

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