Syracuse men’s lacrosse has experienced plenty of growing pains as it adapts to life in the Gary Gait era. After losing three straight games in February and another at Johns Hopkins in Dave Pietramala’s homecoming, the Orange were struggling.

The talent has always been there for Syracuse — with names like Tucker Dordevic, Brendan Curry and Owen Seebold leading the offense. Results are finally starting to come for the Orange, who have now pieced together two straight victories.

Dordevic was every bit the All-American that he’s been the past handful of years, pouring in five goals and two assists — including a viral between-the-legs goal that you’ll see on #SCTop10 — to lead Syracuse to the 14-10 victory over No. 10 Duke.

The Blue Devils now have the look of a team in need of answers, losing two out of three as the thick of ACC play nears.

Dordevic helped the Orange jump out to a 5-1 lead after one quarter, which featured a long-pole bouncer from Saam Olexo. Seebold and Mikey Berkman opened the second quarter with goals to make it 7-1. Matteo Corsi ripped a top corner goal to give the Orange an 8-4 lead into halftime.

Duke and Syracuse went back-and-forth the third quarter until Brennan O’Neill found his rhythm, scoring twice in a three-goal run at the end of the third quarter. Duke cut the deficit to one goal entering the fourth quarter, and did it again with 12:43.

However, each time the Blue Devils pushed, Dordevic was there to keep the Orange in front. He scored four second-half goals to keep his team in the lead, and Curry and Seebold added goals to clinch the win.

VIRGINIA BOUNCES BACK

The Virginia Cavaliers were dominated last weekend with the lacrosse community watching. Lars Tiffany and his team knew they needed a response, and they got one against Notre Dame at Klocker Stadium on Saturday.

Connor Shellenberger looked the part of a Tewaaraton frontrunner and Matthew Nunes was impressive in cage, helping Virginia lead throughout a 12-8 win over the Fighting Irish in ACC play. Shellenberger had three goals and two assists, while Nunes had 12 saves, many at crucial times, to fuel the win.

Four different scorers helped Virginia take an early three-goal lead after one quarter, and Griffin Schutz tallied back-to-back goals to make it 6-1 with 9:40 left in the half. Pat Kavanagh scored to open the second half and cut the deficit to 6-3, but that was as close as Notre Dame would get.

Shellenberger had back-to-back goals in the third quarter to give the Cavaliers a 9-3 lead, and Peyton Cormier added his second goal to push the lead to 11-4 with just over six minutes left. Notre Dame mounted a rally in the final minutes, scoring three times in 34 seconds, but it was too late to pull closer.

CHRIS GRAY GOES OFF

North Carolina may not have expected a challenge when it battled Bellarmine at home, but it got one for the better part of three quarters. Luckily, the Tar Heels have Chris Gray.

Down as many as three goals in the first half and trailing entering the fourth quarter, Gray put North Carolina on his back. He had a fourth-quarter hat trick to help the Tar Heels pull away for the 15-8 victory.

Gray finished with five goals and three assists, while Nicky Solomon chipped in three goals and an assist.

North Carolina led 3-2 after one quarter, but Bellarmine poured in four unanswered goals in a second-quarter run to take a lead into halftime. Kyle Playsted had two of his three goals during the run.

The Tar Heels scored three straight goals out of halftime, including two from Lance Tillman, to take the 7-6 lead. Bellarmine, though, was not done, adding goals from Playsted and Benny O’Rourk to take the 8-7 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Then, it was all North Carolina. Gray had four points, and Nicky Solomon scored twice, in an eight-goal fourth quarter that helped the Tar Heels cruise to the victory.

NICHTERN MAKES HISTORY

Brendan Nichtern dropped seven points to break Army’s all-time points record at Ridley Athletic Complex, and the Black Knights needed every single one.

With Army trailing for much of the first half against Loyola, Nichtern dropped five of his points in a second half run that allowed the Black Knights to leave Baltimore with the 14-12 Patriot League win. He set the program's all-time points record of 238 in the second half.

Loyola led by as many as three goals in the first half thanks to a goal and two assists from Joey Kamish. Bobby Abshire scored three goals over halftime to pull Army to a 7-7 tie in the third quarter. Nichtern added two more goals in the fourth quarter to give his team a two-goal lead, and Loyola would get no closer.

HOYAS HOLD ON

Dylan Watson made sure Georgetown avoided the upset bug in a tight matchup with Lehigh in Bethlehem.

Watson dropped five goals to keep Georgetown in front and negate Mike Sisselberger, leading to a 14-11 Hoyas victory. T.J. Haley also tallied two goals and four assists for Georgetown in an impressive win.

Georgeotwn’s offense clicked in the first half, where Watson and Haley helped the Hoyas push their lead to 10-5 before halftime. Lehigh, though, came out of the locker room on fire, scoring four straight goals to pull within a goal entering the fourth quarter.

Watson and Trippi combined to give Georgetown the 12-9 lead with 13:55 left, but Lehigh wasn’t done. Matt Marker and Cole Kirst score two straight to make it 12-11 with 10:14 remaining. James Reilly, though, won key faceoffs in the final minutes, allowing Watson and Dylan Hess to push the lead further.

BOSTON U FIREWORKS

Boston U had a pair of record-setting performances in a 21-11 victory over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon.

Vince D’Alto dropped seven goals and seven assists to fuel the Terrier’s offense — the single-game program record for points. He beat Chris Gray’s former number of 10 points in a single game.

Faceoff man Conor Calderone matched the single-game NCAA record with 32 faceoff wins. He went 32-for-34 on the day, tying the previous record from Hobart’s Matthew Pedicine, who won 32 out of 37 faceoffs.

NOTABLE

• Matt Campbell dropped seven goals and Villanova led front start to finish in an 18-13 upset victory over Delaware.

• Towson had Denver on the ropes at Peter Barton Stadium once again. However, this time, the Pioneers answered back. Down four goals at halftime, Jack Hannah scored five second-half goals to lead the Pioneers to the 12-9 victory over the Tigers.

• Max Waldbaum went off for five goals and two assists to lead Jacksonville to the 25-4 victory over St. John’s.

• UMass used a five-goal third-quarter run to pull away from No. 20 Brown and clinch the 10-7 upset victory. Kevin Tobin had four goals and an assist to seal the Minutemen’s fourth straight win.

• Michael Chabra scored four goals, including the overtime game-winner, to clinch Providence’s 10-9 victory over Hofstra.

HOW THE NIKE/USAL TOP 20 FARED

No. 2 Virginia defeated No. 14 Notre Dame 12-8
No. 7 Penn defeated No. 4 Cornell 15-11
No. 5 Georgetown defeated No. 15 Lehigh 14-11
No. 8 North Carolina defeated Bellarmine 15-8
No. 9 Jacksonville defeated St. John’s 25-4
Syracuse defeated No. 10 Duke 14-10
No. 13 Harvard defeated Dartmouth 19-10
No. 16 Army defeated Loyola 14-12
Villanova defeated No. 17 Delaware 18-13
No. 18 Boston U defeated Lafayette 21-11
No. 19 Denver defeated Towson 12-9
UMass defeated No. 20 Brown 10-7

FULL SCOREBOARD

Air Force 16, Marquette 9
Army 14, Loyola 12
Binghamton 12, UMBC 8
Boston U 21, Lafayette 11
Bryant 14, Hobart 11
Cleveland State 22, VMI 10
Colgate 14, Bucknell 6
Denver 12, Towson 9
Georgetown 14, Lehigh 11
High Point 18, Detroit Mercy 8
Jacksonville 25, St. John’s 4
Johns Hopkins 15, Michigan 12
LIU 16, Merrimack 7
Marist 11, Siena 10
Monmouth 9, Quinnipiac 8
Mount St. Mary’s 14, Sacred Heart 13
Navy 14, Holy Cross 8
North Carolina 15, Bellarmine 8
Penn 15, Cornell 11
Providence 10, Hofstra 9 (OT)
Richmond 20, Hampton 5
Robert Morris 15, Drexel 14
Saint Joseph’s 12, Wagner 6
St. Bonaventure 15, Manhattan 9
Syracuse 14, Duke 10
UAlbany 12, Stony Brook 10
UMass 10, Brown 7
Utah 23, Mercer 9
Vermont 15, Canisius 6