The Blue Devils trailed 5-0 in the second quarter.
Jordan Wolf had four goals for Duke (16-5). Josh Offit and Josh Dionne each scored three times.
But the real star for the Blue Devils was junior faceoff man Brendan Fowler, who won 13 straight at one point to give Duke possession for long stretches. Fowler won 20 of 28 faceoffs overall and was honored as the game's most outstanding player.
The Blue Devils failed to score on their first 11 shots but closed out with 10 of the game's last 13 goals.
Dylan Donahue led Syracuse (16-4) with three goals. JoJo Marasco scored two fourth-quarter goals 35 seconds apart, pulling the Orange within 13-9 with 7:36 to play.
