After the first 15 minutes, it looked as if the Blue Devils would have to eke out a win against the Dolphins. But Duke’s attack roared to life in the second quarter and catapulted the visiting squad to a blowout victory.
The No. 5 Blue Devils dispatched Jacksonville 18-5 at D.B. Milne Field in Jacksonville, Fla., bouncing back after suffering their first loss of the season a week ago. Although Duke struggled with a slow, sloppy start, senior Case Matheis and sophomore Justin Guterding took charge in the second quarter to fuel an offensive outburst.
“We had a full week to prepare for today,” Duke head coach John Danowski told GoDuke.com. “It was great to outcompete again for 60 minutes. I thought that whoever stepped on the field today played the right way. We were really delighted with the effort of the entire team.”
Matheis was the only Blue Devil to find the back of the net in the first quarter to give his team the early lead, and after the Dolphins (2-2) evened the score at 1-1 to open the second quarter, it seemed as if Duke (3-1) might have its hands full. But following two quick goals by senior Chad Cohan and junior Jack Bruckner, Matheis and Guterding erupted.
Holding a slim 3-1 lead, the attack duo connected on four consecutive goals for the team to break open the game. Guterding found the back of the net for three successive scores—all assisted by Matheis—before Matheis rifled one between the pipes while taking a hard hit of his own following Jacksonville’s second goal of the day. Guterding assisted on the shot, giving the Blue Devils the 7-2 lead with 2:08 remaining in the first half.
After ramping up the attack in the second quarter, Matheis finished with four goals and three assists, followed closely by Guterding with three of each for six points on the afternoon. The duo now now leads the team with 17 and 16 points this season, respectively.
“We won a couple faceoffs [in the first quarter], we took 12 shots [and] we defended well,” Danowski said. “Their goalie is terrific and we knew he was terrific from watching film. [I told the team], ‘Just keep shooting, keep playing and the shots will drop.’”
Once Duke found its rhythm and pulled away in the second period, it did not hold back the rest of the afternoon. In the second half, the Blue Devils outscored the Dolphins 10-3, mostly spurred on by a litany of mistakes from the home squad.
Jacksonville (2-2) was careless throughout the game, only converting 13-of-19 clear attempts and turning the ball over 22 times. Duke forced 13 of those giveaways compared to just three turnovers created by the Dolphins, and the Blue Devils controlled possession by winning 41 ground balls to Jacksonville's 23.
Aside from the lack of ball security, an injury to senior Dakota Rohlin in the third quarter prevented the Dolphins from mounting any semblance of a comeback. The team’s leading scorer took a high-stick near his head and neck that was flagged, but the Temecula, Calif., native left the game and did not return. Rohlin recorded a lone goal in the second quarter.
Although he was kept quiet for most of the afternoon, senior midfielder Myles Jones converted his 100th career goal for the Blue Devils with 17 seconds left before halftime. Jones becomes the first Duke midfielder to reach the mark, extending his point streak to 39 games—the third-longest streak in the nation—in the process.
Following a day off Sunday, the Blue Devils will return to action at home Monday against Mercer (2-1) at 7 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium. In last season’s matchup, Duke hit the road against the Bears and came away with a decisive 16-6 win. Both of Mercer's wins this season came at home by one-goal margins.
“Obviously [Sunday] we’ll grade this game,” Danowski said. “We’ll look at some Mercer film, but we’ve got to keep concentrating on ourselves in February. Let’s just really get better at what we do.”
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