May 18, 2002

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - The Syracuse Orangemen survived a fourth-quarter rally to defeat Duke, 10-9, in an NCAA Tournament Northern Quarterfinal contest at Hofstra Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Michael Wright, Josh Coffman and Michael Springer each scored two goals to help Syracuse reach the semifinals of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship for the 20th consecutive season.

The Orangemen (13-2) have captured seven national titles, the last in 2000. They will meet the winner of Sunday's game between No. 3 Virginia (10-3) and Cornell (12-7) in the semifinals May 25 at New Brunswick, N.J. Duke ends its season at 8-7.

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Matt Monfett and Dan Chemotti. Syracuse responded with a 5-0 run to go ahead 5-2 with 5:56 remaining in the first quarter. Matt Rewkowski and Kevin Brennan then scored back-to-back goals before Spencer Wright tallied for Syracuse to give the Orangemen a 6-4 halftime advantage.

Each team then scored two goals before Springer put Syracuse ahead, 9-6, with just 32 seconds left in the third period. After Duke's Alex Lieske and Coffman traded goals, Monfett scored with 5:59 left in the fourth quarter to pull the Blue Devils within 10-8. At the 2:31 mark Kevin Cassese, who won 12-of-13 face-offs on the day, scored an unassisted goal to make the score 10-9, but Syracuse withstood the rally to pull out the win.

"I am very proud of the way we came to play this afternoon against a very good Syracuse team," said Duke head coach Mike Pressler. "Give credit to Syracuse. They've been to 19 straight Final Fours before this season and that isn't an accident. I thought we played with a lot of heart and emotion and we certainly had our chances to win the game."

The Blue Devils controlled the pace most of the day, winning 20-of-23 face-offs and outshooting the Orangemen 40-38. Duke also had a big edge in ground balls, coming up with 47 to Syracuse's 20.