After Syracuse erased a four-goal second quarter deficit to tie the score at five, No. 3 seed Duke answered with five of the next six goals to eliminate the SU men’s lacrosse team in the opening round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament 12-9 on Saturday at Koskinen Stadium.

The Orange, which received two goals apiece from Kevin Drew and Scott Loy, finish the season with a 9-8 record overall.

Duke generated a majority of its offense in the game from its 17-of-24 performance at the faceoff X. Duke also held a 32-24 edge in ground balls as each time was 1-of-4 on the man-up.

The Orange attempted to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter as Derek Maltz and Tommy Palasek connected for a man-up goal with 10:07 remaining in regulation to cut the deficit to three, but that’s as close as Syracuse got as Duke made stops down the stretch to hang on for the win.