Graziosi's Golden Goal Pushes 'Cuse to ACC Semifinals Friday

Thursday, November 5

Chapel Hill, NC

7 PM

Syracuse University

(5-3)

Duke

(2-7)

Duke

Syracuse

Graziosi's Golden Goal Pushes 'Cuse to ACC Semifinals Friday

11/5/2020 9:58:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

Chapel Hill, N.C. - Laura Graziosi scored in the 63rd minute to lift the Syracuse field hockey team to a 3-2 overtime win in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals over Duke (2-7) on Thursday night. Graziosi had two goals in the win while Eefke van den Nieuwenhof had one of her own as the Orange improve to 5-3 overall and will face No. 2 seed North Carolina at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.

The 2020 ACC Field Hockey Championship will not be open to the public, but ACC Network will carry all tournament action live with Leah Secondo and Eric Frede on the call.

Duke took an early 1-0 lead when Alayna Burns scored unassisted a minute into play. A second goal for the Blue Devils at 9:35, this time by Darcy Bourne, on a penalty corner gave Duke a 2-0 lead. 'Cuse had back-to-back breaks when a challenge overturned a call that would have been a Duke stroke followed by a Blue Devils goal that was waived off. The Orange trailed by two after the first quarter.

"We've got to play who we are and play our style and we got away from that," Syracuse Head Coach Ange Bradley said. "Duke came out and played incredibly aggressive and took it to us. We were fortunate that we were able to keep our belief, regain our composure, and pick up our aggression and play more the way we had intended to play as the game went on."

Graziosi's first goal came in the 21st minute when she fired a shot from the left side of the circle that found the back of the cage cutting into Duke's 2-0 lead. At halftime the Blue Devils led 2-1 and held an 8-6 advantage in shots. Syracuse goalkeeper Syd Taylor made six of her eight saves in the first 30 minutes of action.

Five minutes into the second half van den Nieuwenhof scored on a penalty corner to tie the game 2-2. Claire Cooke and SJ Quigley earned assists on the set piece. Quigley picked up her team-leading third assist of the season on the goal.

At the end of regulation, the numbers had tipped in 'Cuse's favor, Syracuse edged Duke 12-10 in shots and had tallied eight saves.

Florine van Boetzelaer made a diving defensive save in the opening minutes of overtime which was a huge momentum shift for the Orange. After Carly Bothof's shot was stopped on a breakaway, the Blue Devils went on the counter. Graziosi stole the ball near midfield and took it straight into the circle where she sent a backhanded shot to the corner of the cage for the win.

Graziosi scored both game-winning goals against Duke this season. Her goal in the 52nd minute of the regular season matchup on Oct. 10 helped Syracuse to a 4-3 win. Since then the Orange have won five of their last six games and five-straight entering Friday's ACC Semifinal matchup with the Tar Heels.

Friday will be Syracuse's first ACC Semifinal appearance since the 2015 season and third time since joining the ACC prior to the 2013 season.

Syracuse is the No. 3 seed in this year's tournament while host UNC is the No. 2 seed. The winner of Friday's game will advance to the ACC Championship on Sunday at noon against the winner of No. 1 seed Louisville and No. 4 Virginia.