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Duke forward Alaina McVeigh sprinted to a ball on the right side of the attacking circle. She controlled it and cut left. Seeing an opening, she fired a backhand from the top of the circle into the net to extend the lead to 3-0.

McVeigh’s goal was 1 of 4 for No. 9 Duke (5-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) in its shutout of No. 6 Syracuse (5-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast). The Blue Devils controlled from start to finish. The win for Duke was just its 3rd overall against the Orange in program history.

At the 8:09 mark of the first quarter, Duke’s Megan Maransky drove along the baseline before attempting a cross. Barb Civitella received the pass and shot the ball into the net on a volley for the first score of the game. The goal came during a man-up advantage after Bo Madden committed a foul and drew a green card.

90 seconds later the Orange had a chance to tie the game, but Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch saved Eefke van den Nieuwenhof’s shot from a penalty corner. The save ricocheted to the left side of the circle, then Cato Schreinemacher pulled it in. She tried to dribble and spin but was smothered, eventually earning another penalty corner. Pieke van de Pas’s shot was blocked on the second try, and Syracuse failed to draw a corner after that.

Just under halfway through the second quarter, Duke drew another corner and set up the insertion in a different formation than their first two. More bunched up to receive the inbounds pass, and Duke set a pass in towards McVeigh. The sophomore hit a shot off the post, and the ball fell right in the lap of Charlie van Oirschot, who calmly watched the bounce and swatted the ball into the goal for Duke’s second of the half.

In the second quarter, Duke started to assert itself in transition. Duke threatened on nearly every attack and most of their chances came from the right. Meanwhile, Syracuse couldn’t find any rhythm on offense.

The Orange’s offensive struggles continued in the third, as they were only able to get one shot on goal.

Pushing forward for a goal in the fourth quarter, Syracuse was reliant on speedy drives and low-percentage crosses into the circle, at times looking to draw penalty corners from the edge.

6:01 into the fourth, Myrthe van Bolhuis had a chance to put the Orange on the board. She rocketed an unblocked backhand at the goal but Hampsch stuck out her left hand and secured her third save of the game.

From there, the Blue Devils added on. With less than two minutes remaining, McVeigh received a pass up the right side of the circle and snuck between two defenders to get her second shot on goal. She scored her eighth goal of the season, taking sole possession of the ACC goals lead.

Syracuse will look to rebound as it hosts Wagner (0-4) at J.S. Coyne Stadium on Sunday.

Published on September 15, 2023 at 9:33 pm