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Syracuse was on the brink of falling two games below .500, setting itself on pace for its worst season since 2007. It also entered the game unranked for consecutive weeks for the first time since 2012 and was the Atlantic Coast Conference’s only unranked team.

Eleventh-ranked Duke, which, despite being the ACC’s lowest-ranked among the four that were within the nation’s top 20 teams, came into the Carrier Dome and posed a challenge that Syracuse still hadn’t overcome thus far: defeating a ranked opponent.

But Syracuse (4-4, 1-1 ACC) held on despite a near second-half comeback from the No. 11 Blue Devils (8-4, 0-1 ACC) to win 14-10.

Here are some observations from SU’s upset win:

 SU handles its first ranked opponent

In three of Syracuse’s four losses this season, it fell to teams which averaged more goals per game than it did. All three of those games were also against ranked opponents, an opposing status that the Blue Devils held over the Orange.

Before Syracuse’s first goal, as Duke was set to easily clear their zone, Pete Fiorini knocked the ball carrier, Kenny Brower, down to the ground about 10 yards away from goal before picking up the ground ball and firing a bouncing shot over the net. Then, on SU’s quick restart, Jacob Buttermore found Matteo Corsi along the left wing who scored from 10 yards out to give SU the early lead.

That goal sparked a five-goal first quarter, where Syracuse’s top attacking and midfield lines weren’t solely responsible for its early scoring stretch. Three of the Orange’s eight first-half goals were scored by their second-line players, with Corsi accounting for two and Saam Olexo scoring his third goal of the season.

By the midway point of the second period, Syracuse nearly doubled Duke’s shot total as it led 27-14. That included three shots in quick succession that went off the post that period, similar to the Johns Hopkins game where the Orange hit the pipe eight times. But what was different about Saturday’s game was that SU made up for those close chances by finding the back of he net, surpassing its total from its 10-7 loss to the Blue Jays at the 7:21 mark of the second period.

It’s no surprise that Syracuse’s offense led it past a ranked opponent in Duke since SU’s offense ranks among the country’s best. The Orange entered the game with the 11th-best scoring offense and 21st-ranked shot percentage, while Duke entered the game averaging 15.64 goals per game (sixth nationally). But for the first time this season, the Orange’s defense, which has allowed the 17th-most goals in the country at 13 per game, kept them in contention. SU led the whole game, en route to its first conference win of the season.

Gavin makes the case to become the full-time starter

Bobby Gavin made his first start since March 2 last Saturday at Stony Brook. Against the Seawolves, Gavin recorded a season-high 13 saves and played the full 60 minutes — which he’d only done three time beforehand. But Gavin — along with the rest of Syracuse — has failed to put together a strong performance against ranked opponents. The win against Stony Brook was Gavin’s only win where he went the distance. Against Duke, Gavin made 10 saves and was more effective from close range. This was despite a shaky second half where he allowed six goals.

Phaup defeats Naso at the X

When Syracuse and Duke played last season, Jakob Phaup and Danny Varello combined for just eight faceoff wins, while Jake Naso won 24 for the Blue Devils. SU went on to lose by one goal. Phaup, despite being the secondary faceoff specialist when the two teams faced last season, went just 1-for-10.

This year, Naso entered the game ranked 10th in terms of faceoff percentage, winning 61.4% of his battles at the X, while Phaup ranked 18th at 58.2%. As much as last year’s game was decided by Duke’s large faceoff win margin, this year’s game, which ended up being way more even, proved to be the difference in Syracuse’s upset win.

Phaup won 16-of-28 faceoffs, getting the upper hand over Naso, who won 12. Syracuse’s faceoff wins gave it the necessary offensive momentum it needed to not concede a lead against Duke’s high-powered scoring offense, especially as the lead shrunk in the late stages of the game. After the Orange scored their 11th goal of the game, Phaup immediately won the ensuing faceoff and took off down the middle of the Blue Devils’ zone, dishing a pass to his left before taking a hit from an onrushing Duke defender.

Though Syracuse couldn’t score on that possession, it led to a string of good passes and effective shot clock management, as SU drew a Duke penalty.

Dordevic scores fourth consecutive hat trick

Tucker Dordevic scored a career-high six goals and nine points last Saturday against Stony Brook. And in Syracuse’s upset win over Duke, Dordevic led SU’s scoring once again finishing with seven points (five goals and two assists). For the fourth straight game, Dordevic recorded another hat trick. In the third quarter and on the man-up, Dordevic completed the hat trick on the Orange’s 10th goal of the game.

It was similar to his breakout offensive performance in the third period against the Seawolves, where he completed his hat trick midway through the third as a part of Syracuse’s 8-0 run in the second half, a stretch where Dordevic scored five times.

Dordevic first scored on his signature half-spin dodge, rifling a shot to Mike Adler’s right from 20 yards out. He tried the half-spin twice more throughout the game, including once in the third period, but he was denied as the shot went right at Adler.

But it was his fifth goal of the game that helped clinched Syracuse’s win, one that was quite possibly his best goal of the season. After Landon Clary successfully carried the ball out of Syracuse’s zone for the clearance, he fed Dordevic who was directly ahead of him. Dordevic, still rushing toward the net, pulled his stick behind him and fed a rolling shot between his legs and past Adler to give SU an 11-9 lead, and Syracuse never trailed below two goals the rest of the game.

Published on March 26, 2022 at 2:38 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu