Orange Upsets Duke to Advance to ACC Tourney Final

Friday, April 24

Charlottesville, Va.

3 pm

Syracuse University

13-6, 3-4ACC

Duke

14-3, 5-2ACC

Syracuse

Duke

Photo by: Atlantic Coast Conference

Orange Upsets Duke to Advance to ACC Tourney Final

4/24/2015 5:59:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 7/7 Syracuse overcame an early four-goal deficit to defeat No. 3/4 Duke, 14-10, in the semifinals of the 2015 ACC Women's Lacrosse Tournament in Charlottesville, Va. The Orange advances to the tournament final for the second consecutive year where it will meet No. 2/2 North Carolina on Sunday, April 26 at 1 p.m.

Duke (14-3) got off to a fast start, outscoring the Orange 5-1 during the first 13 minutes of action. After a Syracuse timeout, senior Devon Collins scored on an assist from junior Halle Majorana to spark the Orange (13-6) on a 5-1 scoring run over the final 16:44 of the first half. Sophomore Taylor Poplawski scored on a low, hard shot before Majorana netted an unassted goal. Junior Taylor Gait worked her way through the Blue Devils' defense and found the back of the net and senior Loren Ziegler scored on an assist from junior Kayla Treanor to tie the score at 6-6.

Syracuse's offensive outburst continued in the second half as freshman Riley Donahue scored twice and Ziegler recorded an unassisted goal to push the Orange's advantage to 9-6 at the 24:55 mark. Emma Lazaroff found the back of the net for the Blue Devils, ending their scoring drought of more than 21 minutes, but the Orange responded with goals from senior Gabby Jaquith and Poplawski to take its largest lead of four, 11-7, with 17:35 remaining.

Duke netted back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to two, but that was as close as the Blue Devils would get. The Orange scored three of the final four goals of the game to record the 14-10 victory and earn a spot in the final for the second straight year.

"Our players came out a little slow," said Syracuse head coach Gary Gait. "They responded and came through and they believed in each other. That was probably the smartest game they've played all year as far as battling back, making decisions. It's definitely the first time against a top 10 opponent that we've had less turnovers than the other team. That's just learning from our mistakes and becoming better every day."

Ziegler and Donahue each finished with three goals, while Majorana had two goals and three assists. Treanor posted three assists and took over sole possession of fourth place on Syracuse's career assists leader list with 87. Kerrin Maurer posted four points to lead the Blue Devils.

Duke held a slight advantage in shots, 24-23, while the Orange picked up 13 ground balls to 12 for the Blue Devils. Treanor and senior Kailah Kempney each had five draw controls to help Syracuse to a 15-11 advantage in the draw circle. Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Richardson finished with eight saves, while Duke's Kelsey Duryea had seven.