Men's Lacrosse

Syracuse capitalizes on man-up chances against Duke in ACC title game victory

Logan Reidsma | Asst. Photo Editor

Syracuse midfielder Derek DeJoe attempts an off-balance shot from in front of the cage. The junior scored a man-up goal in the second quarter as SU battled back from a slow start.

CHESTER, Pa. — Derek DeJoe took a crow-hop and unleashed a left-handed laser that hit the backside of the goal, inciting a raucous applause from a Syracuse contingent that thought the ball had gone in.

Eight seconds later though, and still on an extra-man opportunity, a wide-open DeJoe received a pass from Dylan Donahue from behind the goal and the Duke defense failed to close in. From a tighter angle in the right alley, the man-up specialist five-holed Duke goalie Danny Fowler before raising his right fist and dramatically pumping his left.

It was the Orange’s first of three man-up scores — SU had four extra-man advantages in the game — and the third goal in a five-goal second-quarter run that erased Syracuse’s slow start. The third-seeded Orange (11-2, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) utilized swift ball movement and took advantage of second-seeded Duke’s (11-5, 1-3) unorganized man-down defense in a 15-14 ACC tournament title win at PPL Park on Sunday afternoon.

“We got a little disorganized when the ball was loose behind and then we got out of shape,” Duke head coach John Danowski said. “The Syracuse kids, they sling the ball, very confident and good things happen when you’re confident and you sling it.”

Only three other times this season has Syracuse scored three man-up goals in a game, and all three occasions were when the Orange had six or more chances to do so.



Coming into Sunday, SU ranked 11th in the country in man-up conversions at a 47.9 percent mark, and its 75 percent conversion rate against Duke was the highest of the season in games where SU had more than one extra-man advantage.

Syracuse attack Randy Staats — who finished with three goals and two assists — credited the man-up success to executing the game plan of quickly swinging the ball to the open man.

And with time winding down in the third quarter and SU on an extra-man advantage, Staats did just that. He drew a double team about 15 yards away from the goal, Kevin Rice leaked behind it and Staats fed a nifty behind-the-head pass that lead to Rice slotting the ball above Fowler’s head.

“The back-side guy was open the majority of the time,” Staats said, “… so we were finding that and the team was working well.”

Then on a man-up in the fourth quarter, Donahue fired a shot that Fowler deflected straight up in the air and out past the crease. Duke defender Brian Dunne misplayed it in the air, the ball bounced up and a diving Staats slapped the ball into the net, throwing both hands in the air in celebration as he sat flat on the ground.

Danowski said Dunne should’ve gone for the ball at its highest point instead of waiting until it got to his shoulders, which caused the misread and ensuing scrappy finish.

“I just saw it coming down and tried to get over in the middle of the net,” Staats said. “Just kind of tried to hockey swing at it. I just tried to take swat at it and luckily it went in.”

Last time against Duke, SU’s 4-for-6 effort on the man-up didn’t matter in a 12-goal blowout.

But in a one-goal game, a Syracuse offense that is difficult enough to defend at even strength had an extra dimension that helped it squeeze out an ACC championship win.

Said Duke midfielder Myles Jones: “Their man-up group is one of the best in the country.”





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