ACC Championship GameThread: Syracuse Orange vs. Duke Blue Devils

For the third straight year, Syracuse will play in the ACC Championship game for a chance at the Conference Title. The Syracuse Orange beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in a 10-7 win on Friday night to earn the right to play on Sunday.

With the victory over UNC, the Orange most likely locked up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. If Syracuse takes down Duke today, we may have to consider the possibility that this team could earn a seeded position. That is crazy considering that just four weeks ago we were listening to the #FireDesko crew pounding their fists. Oh, how things change from week to week.

In the regular season matchup between Duke and ‘Cuse, the Orange came into the fourth quarter with a four goal lead. Duke took off with five straight goals, including three from Deemer Class, to give the Blue Devils its first lead of the day with just 6:28 remaining. While SU was able to force overtime, Duke took home the victory.

Against Notre Dame on Friday evening, Duke used seven scorers in its comeback win over the Irish. From midway in the third quarter until the end of regulation, Duke went on a 5-1 run before Justin Guterding put away the game winner in overtime.

Meanwhile, the Syracuse Orange are in the midst of a dominant defensive run. Ever since Evan Molloy took over net-minding duties SU has looked significantly better on the defensive end, I have to attribute that to his excellent on-field communication. Offensively, Nick Mariano is the leading goal scorer on a very dangerous first midfield line that features the speedy Sergio Salcido and hard-shooting Derek DeJoe.

Grab a seat, post your comments thoughts below, and as always...G'Orange!