The top-ranked Blue Devils picked up a pair of victories, including a top-10 win, over the weekend. Duke, playing for the first time in nearly a year, rallied to beat No. 7/5 Denver Friday afternoon and overcame a slow start Sunday to best Robert Morris, 16-12.
The Blue Devils trailed 5-1 in both games before the defense locked down to help Duke start to chip away at the deficits. After two games, Duke is being outscored 10-3 in the first quarter, but has an 18-9 edge in the second half.
Against Denver, Duke held the Pioneers scoreless for the final 17:14 en route to the 12-10 triumph. The Blue Devils allowed Denver just two goals in the second half. In the Sunday outing versus Robert Morris, Duke held the Colonials without a goal for 31:18 to go on an 8-0 run for an 8-5 lead early in the third quarter.
Danowski Gets Win No. 200 at Duke
Duke head coach John Danowski captured his 200th win at Duke Friday against a top-10 Denver squad. The Blue Devil leader is now 201-62 (.764) since taking the reins in 2007. He is 420-201 (.676) overall and one of two Division I coaches to have 400 career victories. Only eight active Division I coaches have at least 200 career wins.
Notable Duke Debuts
Lacrosse fans everywhere were eagerly awaiting the debuts of both graduate student transfer Michael Sowers and rookie Brennan O'Neill in Duke uniforms. Highly anticipated, the attack duo didn't disappoint as they combined for eight of Duke's 16 points against the Pioneers. Sowers had a goal and three assists and O'Neill finished with three goals and an assist against Denver.
Sowers finished the weekend with a total of one goal and six assists, while O'Neill had three goals and three assists. Sowers' current three assists per game average is the highest among the handful of players who have seen action in 2021. He needs 45 more assists to break the NCAA career record of 231 held by Loyola's Pat Spencer.
Duke's Depth Proving to be Dangerous
A lot has been made of Duke's depth, especially on offense, leading up to the 2021 campaign. The Blue Devils backed up the discussions as 17 different Blue Devils registered at least one point over the weekend. Three defensive players got into the scoring mix – Jake Caputo, Tyler Carpenter and Terry Lindsay – against Robert Morris, while five players notched their first points in a Duke uniform on the weekend.
In addition to the balanced scoring, Duke's options in goal proved to be instrumental to the team's success. Three different goaltenders saw action in the two games with graduate student transfer Mike Adler earning the start Friday night and Turner Uppgren the nod Sunday.
Adler played the first 16 minutes against Denver, allowing six goals, before Uppgren came off the bench to make 11 saves and earn the victory. It was a reversal of roles Sunday as Uppgren allowed five early goals to the Colonials. Adler got the call after 10 minutes and came in to make 11 saves in 45 minutes. Andrew Bonafede made two saves in the final 3:42 against Robert Morris.
Blue Devil Firsts
There were a host of firsts for the Blue Devils over the weekend. Sowers, O'Neill and Phil Robertson all posted their first career points in a Duke uniform. Adler made his first save as the Blue Devil backstop and faceoff specialists Dan O'Connell and Jake Naso won their first faceoffs.
Naso took one faceoff against Denver, but got the call Sunday and won 19-of-28 restarts and picked up nine ground balls. He also registered his first career point, providing the assist on Duke's first goal against the Colonials.
Perhaps most exciting of all was the lift junior midfielder Griffin Catlett gave the Blue Devils against the Pioneers, scoring his first goal to send Duke into the locker room at halftime with momentum.
Carpenter earned his first starting assignment at close defense and junior midfielder Garrett Leadmon registered his first caused turnover with an outstanding defensive effort in the fourth quarter.
The Streaks Continue
The point streaks continued for Sowers and Dyson Williams this weekend. Sowers has scored at least one point in all 49 of his collegiate games, dating back to his Princeton debut Feb. 18, 2017. Sowers has been held without a goal just four times, but has never had fewer than two points in a game – twice versus Yale.
With goals in both games, Williams extended his streak of games with at least one goal to 10 – every game in his young career.
When senior Joe Robertson returns to the field, he will be riding a 29-game point streak, dating back to March 24, 2018.
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February 09, 2021 at 05:17AM
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