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Realistically, the hardest part of Syracuse’s regular season begins Saturday with Atlantic Coast Conference play. But, it’s hard to say that when you’ve played a nonconference slate as challenging as SU’s.

The Orange have played 10 games thus far, nine of which have come against teams ranked in Inside Lacrosse’s most recent Top 20 poll. They’re more than battle-tested for the ACC foes that await them in the coming weeks.

“I think (Gary) Gait and our coaches have just done a great job of playing teams that they think will prepare us for the ACC,” Joey Spallina said Sunday after SU’s win over Georgetown. “We’re ready to play whoever’s in front of us.”

Duke’s nonconference schedule, on the other hand, was not nearly as rigorous. But lip service is one thing. It’s up to the Orange to prove Gait’s gamble truly prepared them to take down anyone in the ACC, and it starts with the Blue Devils Saturday.

Here’s how our beat writers think No. 5 Syracuse (8-2, ACC) will fare against No. 6 Duke (8-0, ACC) Saturday:

Zak Wolf (8-2)
No cupcakes allowed
Syracuse 12, Duke 9

Duke’s nonconference schedule this season was cupcake city. You would think a blue-blood program would challenge itself before ACC play. Wrong. Per Lacrosse Reference, the Blue Devils have had the third-easiest schedule of any power conference team this season. That’s embarrassing.

Their toughest game came last week against Denver, where they scraped by the Pioneers. Seven of Duke’s eight goals came in the second quarter, and outside of that, it was outscored 7-1.

Playing like that won’t cut it against Syracuse. The JMA Wireless Dome is a different beast, and Duke hasn’t played in an environment like that yet. Just look at what SU did to Georgetown last week.

Duke not being battle-tested doesn’t mean it won’t be a handful. Benn Johnston is a formidable first option with 27 goals this season, while Duke’s defense is elite, led by the best shortstick defensive midfielder in the country, Aidan Maguire. However, Riley Figueiras has shown time and time again he’ll shut down your No. 1 option. He held the country’s second-highest scorer, Rory Connor, without a hat trick for the first time all season.

With Figueiras limiting Johnston, Duke won’t have enough firepower elsewhere to keep up with Syracuse’s potent attack.

Joey Spallina has somehow reached a different level, averaging 5.6 points per game during SU’s five-game win streak. As Spallina typically does, he’ll pull the strings, and although the Orange won’t explode for 18 goals like they did last week, they’ll do enough to get the job done.

Nicholas Alumkal (7-3)
Duke dealt a cupcake to face
Syracuse 14, Duke 11

Duke hasn’t lost a game this season. Wow, 8-0. But then you realize who the Blue Devils have played — and, more importantly, who they haven’t. As my fellow scribe Zak expertly noted, Duke has the third-easiest schedule of any power conference team. It has had more than half a dozen cupcakes to feed a large family. That collection of cupcakes will proverbially end up in Duke’s face come Saturday.

Syracuse, on the other hand, has been tested and is on a string of five straight wins — or correct answers, to extend my analogy. Yes, Duke has the second-best scoring defense and the best scoring offense in the country. But, again, most of the teams the Blue Devils have played have been punching bags.

Ample saccharine frosting has been applied to make the wins look more appealing than their actual insipid, one-note nature. It’s like a cupcake looking pretty in the case, but once you eat the frosting, the batter is dry and tasteless.

The Orange and Duke will bring the flavor Saturday in what I expect to be an entertaining contest. The matchup between SU’s deep midfield — headlined by Michael Leo and Luke Rhoa — against Duke’s terrific Maguire is particularly enticing. You could say the same about Duke defender Charlie Johnson and Syracuse’s standout attack.

Yet, once the so-called food fight is over, Duke will be the one picking cupcake frosting off its face, even though SU will experience the sweet taste of victory.

Mauricio Palmar (7-3)
Duke? More like “Duck.”
Syracuse 13, Duke 11

Get it? Because they’re ducking every single good team on the planet.

As Zak and Nicholas mentioned, the Blue Devils have played absolute cupcakes all season. Duke has somehow managed to avoid playing a single top-10 team in Inside Lacrosse’s most recent Top 20 poll. While its eight wins look all fine and dandy, that record belies the fact that the Blue Devils have only played two teams ranked in IL’s most recent poll.

The most recent of those was a narrow, 8-7 home win over Denver, a team Syracuse beat — and scored 13 goals against — on the road in Colorado. The only other one was a 12-6 win over Saint Joseph’s, which also came at Koskinen Stadium. Syracuse hosted St. Joe’s, too. SU poured 20 on its head.

If this were at Koskinen, perhaps I’d be predicting a different outcome. But the Orange are a different team in the Dome. They’ve yet to lose a home game this year, and Duke has yet to play a ranked opponent on the road.

The Blue Devils can’t hide anymore. ACC play makes fools of us all. Duke will enter the Dome atmosphere Saturday, and exit it with a parting gift — its first loss of 2026. How considerate?

Published on March 26, 2026 at 12:06 am