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Just 30 seconds into the third quarter, Duke stole possession away from Syracuse deep in its territory. Willemijn Boogert then quickly committed a foul outside the attacking circle and on the re-entry, Duke midfielder Kira Curland shot from 25 yards outside the cage. The shot deflected off the stick of Hannah Miller and into the goal, putting Duke up 2-1 against SU.

No. 11 Syracuse (11-8, 2-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) couldn’t score again as it lost 2-1 in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals to No. 3 Duke (18-4, 5-1 ACC). The Orange only generated one shot on goal, which was their lone goal of the contest, getting outshot 10-3 by the Blue Devils. The defeat ends Syracuse’s season in its first year under head coach Lynn Farquhar.

In the first quarter, Duke created multiple scoring opportunities. About five minutes in, Alaina McVeigh received a through ball to give the Blue Devils a clean shot. She released a forehand shot, which SU goalie Abby Neitch saved before the ricochet found Miller, whose chance was stymied as well.

Then, 10:44 into the first, Syracuse registered its first shot. Duke committed a penalty just outside the attacking circle, and Pieke van de Pas recognized that nobody was guarding her on the re-entry. She immediately slotted a backhand shot into the net — SU’s first shot and only one on target — to give the Orange a 1-0 lead.

But less than a minute later, the Blue Devils threatened again. They earned a penalty corner, giving Macy Szukics a shot of the insertion. Her attempt was blocked well in front of Neitch and Grace Norair took a shot off the ricochet, which was blocked again. Though it led 1-0, Syracuse only had one shot in the quarter, dwarfed by Duke’s five.

In the second quarter, Duke could only create offense from the perimeter, until nearly seven minutes in. Miller found space and smacked a forehand shot toward a narrow opening in the right side of the cage. Her shot was saved by a well-positioned Neitch.

Ten minutes into the second, Duke gained possession near the Syracuse circle. It couldn’t find any open passes near the goal, instead working the ball to the sidelines and losing possession.

With under a minute left in the first half, the Blue Devils got past midfield and drove to the net. SU’s Myrthe van Bolhuis collided with McVeigh, committing a penalty to prevent a shot. But after review, the original ruling of a penalty corner was upgraded to a penalty stroke. McVeigh, a co-ACC Offensive Player of the Year, capitalized on the opportunity for Duke, scoring her 17th goal of the season and tying the game at 1-1.

After Syracuse fell behind 2-1 on Miller’s goal, it struggled to create consistent offense. One minute into the third, the Orange finally earned their first penalty corner. Eefke van den Nieuwenhof received the insertion and blasted a shot toward the cage, but it was blocked and deflected out of bounds. Syracuse only got one shot off during the third quarter, though it was off-target.

McVeigh again threatened just under two minutes later. She made a defender miss and had a one-on-one between her and Neitch. She sent a backhand shot toward the left half of the cage which Neitch knocked away.

Three minutes into the final quarter, Charlotte de Vries earned a penalty corner. On the insertion, Syracuse couldn’t register a shot on goal. De Vries tried to find van Bolhuis but couldn’t connect before the defense collapsed on the ball. It was just the third shot of the game for the Orange, six shots fewer than Duke at the time.

From that point on, Syracuse resorted all its options to try and generate offense. With just over five minutes remaining, Farquhar opted for an empty net. Duke still ran a methodical offense, staying back and simply letting time tick away on the Orange.

Then, Duke’s Josephine Palde received a green card, which resulted in a two-minute player advantage for SU. Once again, though, the Orange failed to get a shot off against the Blue Devils.

With less than one minute remaining, Syracuse sent traps toward Duke every time it had the ball. De Vries forced a turnover within SU’s defensive zone and dribbled the other way. She sent a long feed past midfield that found Lana Hamilton, who beat her defender and created a one-on-one.

Hamilton drove too far to the right and the defender maintained positioning between her and the goal. Hamilton lost the ball out of bounds and on Duke’s ensuing possession, McVeigh dribbled the clock out.

Published on November 12, 2023 at 6:10 pm