FOXOBOROUGH, Mass. – John Galloway knew the type of game fans expected between Duke and Syracuse. With such high-powered offenses, the sophomore goalie for the Orange was cognizant that most expected a ‘run-and-gun game’ between the teams. Syracuse’s offense held up its part of the bargain with 17 goals, but the SU defense did not let Duke meet quota on its end.

The SU defense held Duke to just seven goals on Saturday, five goals below the Blue Devils’ average. Holding the Atlantic Coast Conference champions to seven goals, its second-lowest total on the season, Syracuse prevailed 17-7 over Duke at Gillette Stadium to advance to the final four.

‘I think we really shut out their opportunities transition wise and it was our defense plan throughout the week to rotate fast and go quick because (Ned) Crotty feeds the ball anywhere you leave an open slot,’ Galloway said. ‘I think our defense did a great job having their sticks up and knocking down some passes and just playing physical with them.’ It all started with SU senior defenseman Sid Smith holding Duke’s Ned Crotty in check. Crotty, the Blue Devils’ leading scorer, came into the contest with 23 goals and 53 assists on the season. ‘I made him adjust to me,’ Smith said, ‘Rather than me adjusting to him.’

With Smith playing aggressive defense on the senior, Crotty could not ignite Duke’s offense. Crotty finished with just two assists, while Duke managed to only score three second-half goals and watch the Orange go on a 7-1 run to close the game. ‘The pressure kept on growing,’ Duke junior attack Max Quinzani said. ‘We couldn’t get the ball to Ned up top. The rest, I think they laid off on the pressure, but we didn’t have long enough possession to even see what they were doing. That’s a testament to their faceoff game, their possessions on the offensive side.’ When the Blue Devils did find open shots, though, Galloway was there to support his teammates. The goalie stopped 11 of 18 shots, including seven of 11 in the first half. From the beginning, Galloway saw the ball well and made some key saves, even celebrating after making a big save with SU leading 5-3 in the second quarter. After last years’ semi-final in which he gave up 13 goals in an overtime win over Virginia, Galloway came to Gillette Stadium wanting to erase some bad memories from last season. ‘But just to be able to come out here and execute our game plan, I think defensively our guys did great,’ Galloway said. ‘I saw the ball well. I felt comfortable and I felt confident and I think that was a huge difference from going into last year.’

Faceoffs give Syracuse a lift

Coming into the season, Syracuse head coach John Desko worried about his faceoff unit. Trying to replace Danny Brennan, the top man in the nation in 2008, resulted in just a .500 record in the X for the Orange this season. But on Saturday, the Orange’s faceoff unit was the least of Desko’s worries. Syracuse won 18-of-28 faceoffs against Duke to provide the Orange with extra possessions and keep the ball away from Duke’s powerful attack. Jake Moulton and Gavin Jenkinson combined to win 17 of the faceoffs for Syracuse. ‘I think it was pretty big for us,’ Desko said. ‘We were 18-for-28, looking at some of the stats. And to have that many more possessions, both teams are pretty good on offense, to give our offense that many more opportunities, didn’t hurt us at all.’ The faceoff unit also provided perhaps the game-changing moment of the game. In the faceoff to start the second half, Moulton won the draw and streaked to the net before blowing a shot by Duke goalie Rob Schroeder to give SU a 9-4 lead just seven seconds into the half. ‘We came out and won that very first faceoff to start the second half and Jake won it and went down and scored off of it,’ Desko said. ‘That was a big lift for us coming out of halftime, wondering what we were going to see, were we going to see one of their runs, and that got us started off on the right foot.’

Jamieson has big day

Cody Jamieson had never scored more goals in a game for Syracuse than his teammate Stephen Keogh. The Canada-natives grew up playing together and have known each for a long time, but in their tenure at Syracuse, Keogh always scored the same amount of goals or more as Jamieson -until Saturday. Jamieson took over Keogh’s role as the dominant crease player in Syracuse’s win, collecting two goals and an assist Keogh had just one goal. ‘It’s both where we are comfortable,’ Jamieson said. ‘We’re both finishers in front of the crease. It doesn’t both either one of us if one us goes in there. We both want to help the team.’ As Jamieson waited to be eligible for most of the season, Keogh served as Syracuse’s primary crease player, getting good passes from Kenny Nims and scoring 46 goals going into Saturday. But against the Blue Devils, Jamieson provided the necessary play needed around the crease and ended up with the better statistical day. After the contest, Jamieson said he hadn’t ribbed his friend at all about his better day – but might have something planned for later. ‘Not yet,’ Jamieson said. ‘But that’s a good idea.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on May 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm