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Syracuse couldn’t have asked for a better start. On the road against an in-conference rival, the Orange struck first inside five minutes.

Jeorgio Kocevski whipped a corner toward the back post and Nicholas Kaloukian timed his run perfectly to get ahead of his marker. Shielding his defender inside the 6 yard box, Kaloukian headed home his second goal of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Syracuse’s excitement, however, would be short lived as the Orange proceeded to give up three unanswered goals in the first half to Duke.

Despite scoring within the first five minutes, Syracuse (4-2-3, 1-1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost an offensive battle to Duke (6-2-1, 2-2 ACC), falling 5-3. Despite tying a season-high three goals for the second consecutive game, SU’s 11-game ACC unbeaten streak came to an end. It hadn’t lost since a 2-1 defeat to Virginia on Sep. 24, 2022.

Syracuse’s early lead was canceled out when Duke was awarded a penalty in the 22nd minute. A deflected cross looked to be no problem for goalkeeper Jason Smith but he was late to react. Hesitation from Smith relinquished possession to a Duke attacker who Smith later brought down awkwardly. The mistake was one of an eventual three resulting in a multitude of Blue Devil goals.

Nick Pariano buried the ensuing penalty into the bottom left corner. Smith dived the right way, but was unable to get enough contact to keep the ball out.

Fourteen minutes later Smith made another error. In what seemed to be a routine play, Smith controlled the ball in his own box. He seemingly had a lot of time to survey his options but Duke forward Forster Ajago quickly closed him down. Smith took an extra touch and attempting to clear the ball but his ensuing kick deflected off Ajago, generating an open-net opportunity. Ajago easily slotted home for his NCAA-leading ninth goal of the campaign, giving Duke a 2-1 advantage.

Just before halftime, the Blue Devils doubled their lead through Ulfur Bjornsson. Switching the ball from left to right in Syracuse territory, Miguel Ramirez sprayed the ball out wide to Amir Daley who delivered a perfect cross from the right side onto Bjornsson’s head. The flicked-on header snuck in at the far post, creating a two-goal Duke cushion.

In the 59th minute, Jeorgio Kocevski swung in a corner kick which was flicked on by Lorenzo Boselli. Through eight games this seasons, the Orange have been prolific from corner opportunities, notching four goals. Syracuse added another to its growing set piece tally as Gabriel Mikina lost his man at the back post to head home his third goal of the season, drawing Syracuse within one yet again.

At the 67 minute mark, Kaloukian lost possession on the edge of the opposing box. Duke came the other way on a counter attack, playing a ball to Bjornsson at the edge of the 18. But SU defender Olu Oyegunle halted the danger while simultaneously taking out Bjornsson. Though the referee signaled for a penalty at first, a free kick was eventually given. Oyegunle was shown a yellow card.

Pariano stepped up but instead of trying to shoot over the wall, he fired an effort underneath it. As the Syracuse players leapt into the air, Periano suck the ball into the net for Duke’s fourth goal of the game and his second.

Six minutes later things took a turn for the worst when Oyegunle was given his second yellow for a late tackle. Trying to close down a Duke attacker after a heavy touch, Oyegunle was late to the ball and the Orange were down to 10 men.

But Syracuse never went away. In the 75th minute, a quick throw-in caught Duke out. Noah Singelmann found Kocevski along the right sideline who drove a low ball into the box. Kocevski’s pass found an unmarked Nate Edwards in the center of the box. Edwards smashed the ball home on a first-time effort, shortening the Blue Devil lead to 4-3.

However, just like it had all contest long, SU failed to build upon its momentum. Only this time, Duke put the game away for good. Put under pressure, Pablo Pedregosa turned and passed back to Smith. Despite given time and space to act, Smith tried finding Daniel Diaz Bonilla on the right flank but played an ill-advised ball directly to Duke winger Ruben Messailes.

Outnumbered and without time to make up ground, Buster Sjoberg scrambled to position himself between Messailes and the goal but was unsuccessful. Messailes calmly picked his spot to score past Smith into the right side-netting, making things 5-3.

Published on September 29, 2023 at 10:47 pm

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