The winner would go to the Final Four, the loser would be sent home, and Duke was ahead 4-3 at the half.
Then just 20 seconds into the third period, defenseman Casey Carroll saw a golden opportunity, picking up a loose ball and scoring his first career goal to ignite a 7-0 Duke run against Cornell.
Last year the Blue Devils used that game-changing play to advance to the Final Four. Although its tournament life is not at stake, No. 2 Duke (6-1) expects a similar battle against the third-ranked Big Red (4-0) when the teams meet at Koskinen Stadium Tuesday at 3 p.m.
"It's not much different than a year ago," head coach Mike Pressler said. "We expect Cornell to play outstanding lacrosse. We expect it to be a one-goal game, most likely decided in the end. The winner isn't going to the Final Four but I think we're going to see the same type of atmosphere tomorrow."
In last year's quarterfinal, Cornell managed to hold Duke to only one goal in the second quarter while the Big Red scored three of its own. Following the 7-0 Blue Devil run, the Big Red struck back with a 5-0 spurt, but it wasn't enough-the game ended at 11-8.
Duke anticipates a close game again that will be decided by more than just the two teams' attack.
"We're going to score, I know we're going to score," attacker Dan Flannery said. "I'm more concerned that they are a quality team, and any time you have two quality teams playing against each other, the game is going to be decided on the little things-groundballs, faceoffs, whose goalie plays better, those sorts of things."
Flannery speaks from experience. In Duke's last matchup against a top-five team, No. 4 Maryland ended the Blue Devils' 14-game home-winning streak. The loss came when the Terrapins netted a goal in overtime after a back-and-forth contest in which neither team could gain control.
"A lot of times we've had games where we've gotten things started right off the bat," Carroll said. "I think [against Cornell last year] everyone was looking around waiting for something to happen. It was just one of those things that gives the team a shock, and it's a lot easier to get something going after you get that first tough goal."
Unfortunately for Duke, Tuesday's rematch will happen without Carroll's defensive presence. The junior will be out for the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL and sophomore Ryan McFadyen will be replacing him.
"We're still adjusting," Pressler said. "You just don't replace, arguably, one of the top defenseman in the game overnight. I'm very pleased with Ryan's performance to date, but he's a totally different player. For us to get through this we all have to step it up. If you look at Casey's box score, he's got groundballs, intercepted passes, he reaches the break, he shuts down the opponent's best offensive guys. For us to absorb the loss, it can't be done individually-it has to be done collectively."
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