'Cuse Beats Duke to Advance to ACC Semifinals

Sunday, November 9

SU Soccer Stadium

1 p.m.

Syracuse University

15-2-1

Duke

9-9-1

Duke

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

11/9/2014 4:16:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Orange takes down Blue Devils, 2-0, in front of record crowd

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Top-ranked Syracuse (15-2-1) scored twice in the first half and leaned on its formidable defense to knock off No. 7 seed Duke, 2-0, before an SU Soccer Stadium record crowd of 2,533 in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship on Sunday, Nov. 9.

Links: Bracket | Tournament Central

Sophomore Alex Halis and senior Nick Perea provided the offense, scoring close to 23 minutes apart in the opening stanza. Meanwhile, Alex Bono set a new Orange single-season record with his 12th shutout. The junior keeper tied his season high with seven saves against the Blue Devils (9-9-1), including five in the first half.

"It was a terrific day for our program and I'm very proud of our guys," Orange head coach Ian McIntyre said. "I thought we started off a bit nervy, giving up a good chance off the cross bar in the first minute, but we settled in and made some chances of our own after that. To show that we can not only get results, but play well in the postseason was very good for us as well."

That early Duke scoring chance was by Brody Huitema who sent a header off the cross bar less than 30 seconds into the contest. The near miss grabbed the attention of the home team, which controlled the run of play after that.

In the 10th minute, Halis finished a Julian Buescher cross to give the Orange a 1-0 advantage. The fact that Halis was even on the field at that point in the game was the result of a brilliant tactical move by McIntyre. Instead of leading scorer Emil Ekblom, McIntyre elected to give Halis his second start of the year and the Brampton, Ontario native rewarded his coach's faith by tallying his second goal of the season.

Five minutes later, Halis had another scoring opportunity when he beat Duke goalkeeper Wilson Fisher, but the ball deflected off the cross bar and out of play.

Syracuse continued to dominate possession, and in the 33rd minute added to its lead. Liam Callahan volleyed an Oyvind Alseth cross to Perea who headed the ball past Fisher from six yards out to make it 2-0.

In the second half, Duke pushed numbers forward needing two goals to equalize, but the Orange defense was up to the challenge. Syracuse limited the Blue Devils to just four shots (two on goal) after the intermission and finished the game with a 19-11 shot advantage for the match.

Fisher recorded six saves for the Blue Devils, including four in the second half. Huitema and Nick Palodichuk paced the Duke offense with two shots each.

Syracuse advances to face No. 6 seed Louisville in the ACC semifinals on Friday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth and seniors.

Match Notes: The previous Orange single-season shutout record was 11 by Chris Whitcomb in 1986 … Bono now has 30 career clean sheets, one shy of tying Joe Papaleo's career record of 31 from 1979-82 … The win was the Orange's first in conference tournament play since defeating West Virginia (2-1) in the 1999 BIG EAST quarterfinals … Syracuse improved to 9-1 at home this season … Callahan's assist on Perea's goal was his first career point.