FOXBORO, Mass. – Syracuse seniors Kenny Nims and Pat Perritt did not want their season to come to an end yet and the Orange rode the performance of its seniors to beat Duke, 17-7, in the NCAA Semifinals on Saturday at Gillette Stadium. With the triumph, Syracuse (15-2) advanced to the NCAA Championship game for the 16th time and will play the winner of the Virginia-Cornell semifinal on Monday, May 25, at 1:00 p.m. Syracuse won it's eighth straight game of the year while at the same time halting Duke's nine-game victory streak.

Nims found the net four times and had an assist while Perritt tallied a career-high four goals and produced an assist. Junior Cody Jamieson had two goals and an assist, and freshman Tim Desko contributed two goals, both in man-up situations.

Up 10-6 in the pivotal third period, Syracuse broke the game open with four unanswered goals. Senior Matt Abbott started the barrage by finding Nims on the goalmouth for a tally with 5:54 remaining in the quarter. Sophomore Stephen Keogh then scored his 47th of the campaign off a pass from senior Dan Hardy, at the 2:29 mark. Nims got his third of the contest and 30th of the season on a nifty pass from senior Greg Niewieroski with 59 ticks on the clock.

Just 33 seconds later, Perritt got his fourth of the game and 17th of the year to put Syracuse ahead 14-6 after three periods. Duke (15-4) answered in the fourth period, but the Orange closed out the scoring with consecutive goals from Nims, his 31st, and the two man-up goals from Desko.

Syracuse opened the game with the consecutive goals. Junior Chris Daniello came from behind the cage for his 20th of the year. Sophomore Joel White, a long-stick midfielder, dunked one into the Duke net for his fifth of the campaign and a 2-0 Orange advantage at the mid-way point of the first quarter.


Duke responded behind Zack Howell, who scored back-to-back goals, to even the score. With 35 seconds left in the first period, Perritt tallied his first goal with a drive that beat Duke netminder Rob Schroeder on the short side. SU extended its advantage when Nims ripped the net with one second left in the period. The goal increased his consecutive-game point-scoring streak to 33.

Duke's Max Quinzani pulled the Blue Devils back within one, 4-3, 11 seconds into the second quarter. Jamieson answered one minute later, on a feed from Nims. Perritt scored on a bounce shot from the left side, his 15th of the year, and after Duke scored, Perritt did it again on an assist from Hardy. Jamieson closed out the scoring in the second quarter one a one-on-one move that began behind the goal.

Moulton pushed the Orange advantage to 9-4 with his faceoff win and goal, just seven seconds into the third. Duke's Howell scored for the third time in the contest but Hardy earned his 24th goal on a Perritt assist for SU's 10th of the contest.


Sophomore John Galloway, who missed last Saturday's win against Maryland because of an illness, returned to the cage and made 11 saves. Junior Al Cavalieri played the final minutes in relief of Gallaway.

Syracuse had a strong showing at the faceoff X, winning 18 of 28 draws. Senior Jake Moulton, who opened the second half by winning the faceoff, racing to the cage and scoring, won 10 of 17. Junior Gavin Jenkinson claimed 7 of 9 draws.

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2009-05-23