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Syracuse's Comeback Kids At It Again

Cuse.com

Syracuse and Duke faced off Saturday afternoon for the 17th time, with the Orange heading into the matchup with the 10-6 series advantage. Sergio Salcido recorded a career high six points in both games against the Blue Devils last season. He added to his stat line against Duke this past afternoon, recording two goal and one assist.

Scoring was early and often for these ACC rivals, as both teams scored four goals within the first four minutes of the contest. The Blue Devil’s freshman attacker Joey Manown got started early, scoring two of his three goals with five minutes gone in the first quarter.

The game was a classic back-and-forth affair, with both teams going goal for goal with the game knotted at three a-piece at the end of the first.

Syracuse faced a few mental errors throughout the first half. SU defenseman Paolo Ciferri defended Duke’s Justin Guterding with the pass going off of Ciferris’ leg into Malloy’s net. The Blue Devils went on a 3-0 run in the second quarter, taking its first lead of the day at 6-4.

‘Cuse cut into the Blue Devil lead with two and a half minutes left in the first half, trailing 6-5. Senior attackman Nick Mariano found the back of the for his and 150th point of his career and 99th career goal. The Orange headed into the locker room with that scoreline still intact.

One big thing from the first half was the lopsided faceoff action. Syracuse faceoff man Ben Williams was just 2-13 from the circle.

Not all bad though, as the Orange has erased deficits of at least four goals on three separate occasions this year, including twice in games ending in a win. That must’ve been what SU Head Coach John Desko said in the locker room, because the Orange came out firing.

Sergio Salcido tied the game at six just 35 seconds into the second half. Brendan Bomberry took the SU lead once again 7-6 with three minutes left in the third quarter. Nick Mariano scored his 100th career goal with seconds left in the period to have SU up two, 8-6. This was his second of the day and 14th on the year.

While SU took the lead, it was the defense that stepped up, not allowing a Duke goal to cross the line in the third quarter. ACC Defensive Player of the Week Evan Malloy made two saves alone in the quarter with Syracuse forcing six turnovers.

The game proved to be a thriller as Duke came out hot in the fourth quarter. Guterding scored with 8 seconds gone in the period. SU and Duke stayed true to the back-and-forth game, as Nate Solomon answered Guterding with his second goal of the game to get the lead back up to two, 9-7.

Syracuse and one-goal games are like magnets, as Duke’s John Prendergast found the back of the net with 10 minutes left in the game to cut the deficit to one. Guterding answered the call once again as he found Malloy’s stomping ground for his second goal of the game and tied the score at nine. Duke then came back to score two in a row, going up 11-9. Brendan Bomberry then found the back of the net to cut the deficit at one, 11-10.

Nick Mariano figured 100 career goals was not enough as he found the back of the net for his 101st, knotting the game at 11 with two minutes left to play. After Duke failed to convert on the last possession, the game headed into overtime.

Syracuse’s Jamie Trimboli didn’t let overtime last long, sending a goal into the upper corner to send Duke home with its third loss of the season.

This extends Syracuse’s streak of one-goal games to six, winning five of them. Syracuse travels to South Bend to face Notre Dame next Saturday at 1pm.