Syracuse University
#3 Duke
Road To Title Continues Versus Duke
5/20/2009 11:14:23 AM | Men's Lacrosse
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The second-seeded Orange (14-2) continues its quest for its 11th NCAA Championship on Saturday, May 23 when it meets its second straight ACC foe, No. 3 seed Duke (15-3), at 12 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in the national semifinals. It will mark the first meeting between the two schools since the 2002 NCAA quarterfinals.
Syracuse advanced to the Final Four for the 26th time in school history with an 11-6 victory versus Maryland at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium in the tournament quarterfinals. The Blue Devils moved on with a 12-11 triumph over No. 6 seed North Carolina.
Saturday's game will air live nationally on ESPN2. Fans can listen to the action via the Syracuse ISP Sports Network's flagship station TK 99 (99.5 FM). The audio stream of the broadcast is available for free on SUathletics.com. The game is also available on ESPN360.com by clicking here
ABOUT THE SERIES
Syracuse has won four of the five all-time meetings with the Blue Devils, including the last three. The Orange's only loss in the series was back in 1978. The last two pairings have occurred in the NCAA playoffs and both were decided by one goal. The Orange knocked off Duke, 12-11, in the 1994 NCAA Tournament to advance to the national semifinals. In 2002, SU recorded a 10-9 win in the tournament's opening round on its way to winning the national championship.
DESKO VERSUS DUKE
Orange head coach John Desko has faced the Blue Devils just once in his career. His SU squad emerged with a 10-9 victory in that contest in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING DUKE
Duke enters the NCAA semifinals as the nation's hottest team. The Blue Devils have won their last nine games, the longest current winning streak in the nation. They are making their third consecutive trip to the Final Four after losing in the 2007 national championship game to Johns Hopkins and again to the Blue Jays in 2008 in the national semifinals. ACC Player of the Year and Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Ned Crotty leads the Duke attack. Crotty is second nationally in points per game (4.22) and he leads the country in assists per game (2.94). Crotty torched North Carolina for eight points (2g, 6a) in Duke's quarterfinal win on May 17. He is flanked by junior Max Quinzani who leads the team with 43 goals and ranks second on the club with 53 points.
Defensively, sophomore Michael Manley held North Carolina scoring machine Billy Bitter to just two assists in the quarterfinals. Manley has started all 17 games he's played this year and has 30 ground balls. Junior defenseman Parker McKee is 23rd in the nation in ground balls per game (5.11) and leads the team with 92. Senior goalie Rob Schroeder has started all 18 games in the cage. He is ninth nationally in goals-against average (7.67) and has 140 saves.
ORANGE IN THE NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
Syracuse is 15-10 all-time in NCAA semifinals, including a 6-2 mark under current head coach John Desko. The Orange is vying for its second straight trip to the title game after beating Virginia in double-overtime last season to advance to the championship game against Johns Hopkins. The last time Syracuse made consecutive appearances in the championship tilt was from 1999 to 2002 when it advanced to four straight championship games.
LUCKY SEVEN
The Orange enters the NCAA semifinals on a seven-game winning streak, its longest of the year. SU hasn't lost since April 4 when it fell to Princeton at Giants Stadium in the inugural Big City Classic. Since that defeat, the Orange has knocked off five ranked opponents as well as Rutgers and Siena. Syracuse has outscored its opponents, 85-46, during the streak. Sophomore Stephen Keogh leads the club with 18 goals in the seven games, including five hat tricks.
CAVALIERI COMES UP BIG
With starter John Galloway out with an illness, junior goalie Al Cavalieri received his first collegiate start in the NCAA quarterfinals against Maryland. Cavalieri responded with a career-best 14 saves, including six in the fourth quarter to help lead the Orange past the Terps, 11-6. The peformance was highlighted by back-to-back stops in the fourth quarter, the second was a reaction save on a doorstep chance by Maryland's Grant Catalino. Cavalieri played all 60 minutes in the contest to earn his first career victory. The game marked the first time in his career he played more than one quarter. For his performance, Cavalieri was rewarded with Player of the Week honors from Inside Lacrosse.
SOME UNLIKELY OFFENSE
Senior defenseman Sid Smith and junior longstick middie Tyler Hlawati became the latest Orange players to find the scoring column. They each recorded a point when they combined for SU's 10th goal in the team's 11-6 quarterfinal win against Maryland. Smith found Hlawati all alone in front of the Maryland cage at the 14:25 mark of the fourth qurater. It was Smith's first assist of the season and the second of his career. For Hlawati, it was his first career goal.
UP NEXT
The winner of the Syracuse-Duke matchup will face the winner of top-seeded Virginia and fifth-seeded Cornell for the national championship at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 25 at Gillette Stadium.
