Graduate attackman Eric Malever found himself off the right shoulder of Syracuse goalkeeper Jimmy McCool. There were only a handful of seconds remaining in the fourth frame of what had been a defensive-minded performance for both teams. The Orange goalkeeper’s 10 saves — with the help of a suffocating Syracuse back line — had limited the Blue Devils’ offensive chances throughout much of the game.
With his team down by a single goal, Malever attempted to wrap his shot around McCool’s left shoulder but miscalculated the angle and missed the net entirely. The ball rolled towards the back corner of the pitch as the seconds trickled down and the final buzzer sounded, handing Duke its final reminder of the offensive frustrations that plagued the team’s play all match.
At American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, the No. 4-seed Orange held strong in the final seconds to squeeze past the No. 3-seed Blue Devils 9-8 in the ACC Tournament Championship, solidifying their case for an NCAA Tournament bid and equalizing their 2025 season record against Duke at 1-1…