Duke owns Blue Hose in blowout

Freshman Eddie Loftus exploded for six goals Friday in Duke’s easy home win over Presbyterian.
Freshman Eddie Loftus exploded for six goals Friday in Duke’s easy home win over Presbyterian.

Although leading scorers Max Quinzani and Zach Howell scored just once each and NCAA assist leader Ned Crotty didn’t even collect a point, Duke (10-3) dismantled Presbyterian 19-8 at Koskinen Stadium Friday. The No. 6 Blue Devils outscored the Blue Hose (1-8) 11-3 in the first half and outshot their opponent 50-19 throughout the entire game.

The easy Duke victory, its eighth in a row, allowed head coach John Danowski to rest many of his starters and give playing time to others who haven’t seen much action so far this year.

Junior Tucker Virtue made his first career start and scored the first two goals of the game, and he added one more score with a minute remaining in the first quarter. Virtue also dished out an assist and collected seven ground balls.

“[It was] a great opportunity for some other guys to play who had been practicing as hard as everyone else since September,” Danowski said. “I think those guys made the most of that opportunity.”

One of those players was freshman Eddie Loftus. Loftus is one of three brothers to have played for Duke—his eldest brother Dan was an All-American in goal for the Blue Devils and Chris played four years in the midfield—and the youngest showed off what he has learned from them. Although he entered the game without a college point, Loftus tallied six goals, including three in the second quarter alone.

“I haven’t really gotten that much time this season,” Loftus said. “I really appreciate the coaching staff for giving me a shot. It was a dream come true.”

Danowski praised the freshman attackman as well.

“Eddie Loftus is a freshman and he works so hard,” Danowski said. “We were delighted for Eddie.”

Along with Loftus, senior Matt Anderson, junior Andrew Rullan and sophomore Scot Meyer each scored their first goals in a Duke uniform.

“For a lot of guys, it was their first college goal and they scored the right way,” Danowski said. “I think they felt good about themselves and I know the team felt great about those guys making plays.”

Danowski also had the chance to diversify playing time at the goalie position. Starting freshman goalie Dan Wigrizer watched the game from the bench as four other Duke goalies took turns thwarting the Presbyterian attack. Senior Devon Sherwood started for the Blue Devils and earned the victory, making two saves and allowing just one goal in his 15 minutes of action.

Another senior, Terrence Molinari, got the opportunity to display his faceoff skills, replacing starter Sam Payton, who sat out the game as well. Like Loftus and Sherwood, Molinari looked like anything but a bench player in winning 13 of 18 faceoffs and collecting eight ground balls.

“[It was] a great opportunity for [Molinari] to get a lot of reps facing off,” Danowski said. “He performed really admirably.”

The No. 6 Blue Devils travel to Charlottesville, Va. this Saturday to take on Virginia in their final game before the ACC Tournament. After an extended rest for its starters, Duke looks to upset the top-ranked Cavaliers in the latest installment of their rivalry.

Jacob Levitt contributed reporting for this story.

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