Emily Hawryschuk and Olivia Jenner were stuck. Their first half success — a combined eight goals — were held to zero for most of the second half. Syracuse and Duke’s best offensive players couldn’t get anything going, and Hawryschuk, like she tends to do, couldn’t find driving lanes.

But with five minutes left and SU clinging to a 14-12 lead, Hawryschuk found an opening and got tripped up. Eight yards from the net, squared with Duke’s second goalie of the day, the junior attack dropped her stick and found the left corner of the net. A three-goal advantage was all the Orange needed to close out another ranked opponent.

After eight lead changes, No. 3 Syracuse (12-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) needed one last offensive push to close out No. 13 Duke (8-4, 2-2). An 18-goal first half was followed by a defensive battle, one the Orange ultimately won, 15-14. The Blue Devils lost their third one-goal game of the season, and SU remains undefeated against opponents ranked lower than it.

Before Saturday, the Orange haven’t faltered against lower-ranked opponents. Their only scare — a March 13 matchup with then-No. 16 Florida — featured a blown six-goal lead that ended in a Meaghan Tyrrell score with eight seconds left. But before its 14-13 win in Gainesville, Florida, SU dominated then-No. 7 Virginia and No. 13 Loyola. After a dominant win over Harvard and just two losses on the season, SU had another test in then-No. 12 Notre Dame.

Hawryschuk started the scoring on the Orange’s first possession of the game, and after a turnover on a Duke clear, Tyrrell made it 2-0. Then, the back-and-forth affair started.

Duke scored on three-straight possessions in a four-minute span, two courtesy of Jenner. Mary Rahal ended the run off of an assist from Hawryschuk, but the Blue Devils responded after a Sam Swart score with Jenner’s third of the day — her hat trick came just 14 minutes into the game. Three Blues Devils goals were responded with three-in-a-row by the Orange, capped off by another Hawryschuk score.

As Hawryschuk and Jenner dominated in close, the Duke senior attack made it 9-9 in the final seconds of the first half. The first half ended with just two saves from Asa Goldstock and seven lead changes.

Syracuse has struggled with top upperclassmen attacks this season, like Sam Apuzzo’s nine points (seven goals, two assists) in the Carrier Dome on Feb. 16. After 30 minutes, Jenner, a Tewaaraton Award watch list candidate, already had five goals.

Three minutes into the second half, Duke removed its starting goalkeeper, Gabbe Cadoux. The junior had a .231 save percentage before senior Jamie Lockwood came in. In her first minutes, Lockwood saved two shots off of Tyrrell and Megan Carney and challenged the Orange more than Cadoux.

But with the change in net, both offenses slowed. Turnovers piled up, clear attempts became harder for both squads and SU’s only opportunities came from the free position. Duke and Syracuse traded four goals in a 10-minute span, but the Blue Devils couldn’t muster a lead like they did in the first half.

After Hawryschuk’s goal made it 15-12, the Blue Devils’ comeback bid was still alive — Katie Cronin shrunk the lead, Jenner’s sixth goal of the day made it just a one-score game and Duke had possession with 90 seconds left. Yet looking for an equalizer, the Blue Devils floated a pass past the endline, and the Orange ran the clock out with 45 seconds left.

Syracuse will return to Christian Brothers Academy, where it played against Notre Dame, to face another ACC-foe in unranked Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Published on March 30, 2019 at 3:04 pm

Contact KJ: kjedelma@syr.edu | @KJEdelman