Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Defense dominates Duke in massive, 10-4 Orange win

The nation’s top scoring offense was completely shut down in an incredible effort by the Orange defense.

In his postgame interview on the ACC Network Extra broadcast, Will Mark said the team has talked all season about putting together the perfect defensive 60 minutes.

On Wednesday night in the JMA Dome, they just about did exactly that.

Will and the Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse team beat the Duke Blue Devils in a Top 5 matchup by a score of 10-4 with a defensive masterclass that held the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense to 14 goals below their season average.

It was truly one of the best defensive showings I’ve ever seen from a Syracuse defense, as the Orange spent the whole night suffocating Duke into long, drawn out possessions that frustrated them into one of their worst performances ever. It was the fewest goals in a game for a Duke team since 2012.

The Blue Devils ended up turning the ball over 19 times while only mustering 18 shots on goal. Their lack of success in breaking down the Orange defense led the No. 2 shooting team in the country (.392 percent) to shoot 4-of-36 on the night (.111 percent).

When they were able to find the space or time to get a good look at cage, Will Mark was there to be as close to an actual brick wall as he could possibly be. He made 14 saves, had a .778 save percentage, picked up two ground balls, and had one very on-his-toes caused turnover. He was absolutely fantastic.

And so was his defense, which made stops on 29 of Duke’s 33 possessions. They played a complete game, holding the Blue Devils to one goal in each quarter and keeping them off the board for more than 24 minutes in the middle of the game.

Billy Dwan was fantastic in the mammoth matchup with Brennan O’Neill, grabbing three ground balls while holding O’Neill to a goal and an assist on 1-of-11 shooting. Eight of his shots missed the cage entirely. Riley Figueiras had three GBs and a caused turnover while holding Josh Zawada to a goal on 1-of-4 shooting. Sharp shooter Dyson Williams went point-less on 0-of-4 shooting after coming into the game shooting .554 percent.

The man-down unit, which has been fantastic for most of this season, deserves some love, too. They held Duke to 0-of-2 for the game, including a 60 second penalty that they ended up forcing a shot clock violation on. Defensive coordinator John Odierna’s strategy of using all different players on his man-down unit is working out beautifully, as they’ve only surrendered one goal in the last six games and 3-of-17 over the last eight games. They’ve been a revelation.

With the face-off unit struggling for wins on the night (Duke won all eight first half face-offs and 11-of-17 for the game), it was extremely impressive that the Orange were able to win the overall ground ball battle, 26-24. They really dominated in non-FO ground balls, and it was a huge factor in helping mitigate Duke’s possession advantage.

While the defense was grabbing all the attention, the offense was doing just enough to keep ‘Cuse ahead in the first half and eventually pull away in the second. Going into halftime with a 4-2 lead, SU took off with a five-goal third quarter that ballooned their lead to 9-3 going into the fourth. The Orange only scored five goals in the other three quarters combined, but that third quarter gave them the comfortable separation they needed to see the game out.

It wasn’t a flashy night for the ‘Cuse offense, but they worked well as a unit, assisting on eight of their 10 goals, and getting just enough interior penetration to put up a solid number on a defensive-minded night.

It was also an incredibly well-balanced effort from the offense. Amazingly, seven different players recorded multiple points even with only 10 goals scored, and nine players recorded a point.

Owen Hiltz (3G) stayed hot with his fifth hat trick of the season, while Jake Stevens (3A) dished a career-high three assists. Jackson Birtwistle (2G) scored two nice goals, Joey Spallina (2A) had two assists, and Finn Thomson (1G, 1A), Christian Mulé (1G, 1A) and Michael Leo (1G, 1A) all had a goal and assist to round out the seven players with multiple points. Luke Rhoa (1G) and Mason Kohn (1G) each added a goal, as well.

The Orange have a short turnaround to their game this weekend when they travel to Geneva, NY for their first true road game of the season. They’ll meet the Hobart Statesman as the CNY rivals once again battle for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy. The game is set for this Saturday, March 23 at 5 PM.