One week before its national championship rematch against No. 8 Johns Hopkins, Duke (10-1) overcame a gritty Dartmouth squad at Long Island Saturday, 16-9.
Despite its best effort, the Big Green simply had no answer for attackman Zack Greer.
The Blue Devil co-captain poured on a season-high seven goals in the contest, giving him a NCAA seventh-best 174 career goals.
"Zack's good for one of those games at least twice a year," co-captain Matt Danowski said. "He has that kind of ability where he can go off for seven goals in a game and not think twice about it."
Greer had trouble finding the back of the net during the opening period, and Dartmouth (4-4) began the game with an upset on its mind, trailing just 5-4 early in the second quarter. At the 7:48 mark, though, Danowski fed Greer a pass in front of the net, and the sharpshooter nailed it from about seven yards away. Less than three minutes later, he had notched two more, and the No. 3 Blue Devils were rolling.
Even though Dartmouth's Philip Killian scored several minutes later to bring his team within three, Danowski crushed the Big Green's hopes when he slipped an unassisted tally into the goal with only three seconds remaining in the half.
It was just that kind of game for Duke.
"We played a good quality game all around, and we played a full 60 minutes," Greer said. "Dartmouth came at us. They didn't give up. It was definitely a good test for us."
If the Big Green tested Duke, then Greer put on a clinic.
He started the second half in the same blistering fashion as he had finished the first, notching his fifth goal of the day just nine seconds after play resumed. After Danowski scored-he finished with four goals and four assists-Greer went off for two more, giving him hat tricks in both the second and third periods.
By the time Killian scored again, for Dartmouth's first goal in almost 15 minutes of play, the Blue Devils had a commanding 13-6 lead, and Greer had shown why he's one of the most feared attackmen in the country.
"I had a few good looks, and the other guys were making great plays to get me open," Greer said. "I think that was key. We had a bunch of chances, and they finally started to drop."
Along with Danowski's final mark of the night, Max Quinzani scored two of his four goals late to round out Duke's scoring. Opponents have long feared the two-headed monster of Danowski and Greer, but Quinzani recently has asserted himself as one of the nation's premier scorers, averaging more than three goals per game this season.
But Saturday, the story was all about Greer. With his one assist, the star senior finished with eight points on the night and 53 on the year. That's 10 more than he had after 10 games last season. (Greer did not play in the Presbyterian contest earlier this year.) But it's the manner in which he's done it that is most telling. He has five more assists and five more groundballs, which his teammates think is a tribute to his growing maturity.
"He's become a better overall lacrosse player than he was last year," Danowski said. "He's improving. He worked really hard in the fall like the rest of us. After playing three years of college lacrosse... I just think he's become more accustomed to the game."
The Blue Devils host Johns Hopkins Saturday, and they can only hope Greer will have another standout performance in leading Duke's three-headed monster against the defending national champions.
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