The Blue Devils know it won't be easy to replace two of the best players in lacrosse history.
But they're ready to try.
After losing the NCAA's all-time leading scorer Matt Danowski and the NCAA's all-time leading goal scorer Zack Greer, No. 5 Duke (1-0) has begun its season with several players in different positions. Fifth-year senior Rob Schroeder has replaced Dan Loftus in goal. Midfielder Chris Loftus has been elevated to a starting role. Several players had not even played a collegiate game before last Saturday's 11-7 win over Bucknell.
The area of most scrutiny, however, will be the Blue Devils' new-look attack. Junior Max Quinzani, who was second on last year's team-and second in the nation-with 61 goals, is the only starting attackman with collegiate experience at the position. Senior Ned Crotty and sophomore Zach Howell have both moved up from midfield to join Quinzani.
"We're very happy with the way they performed [against Bucknell], knowing it was their first time out," head coach John Danowski said of the trio, which combined for 10 points against the Bison. "Practice is one thing, but once game time comes and there are referees and teams with different color shirts on, it changes. It changes how you play and how you react."
A year after sneaking up on opponents as the Blue Devils' third attackman, Quinzani becomes the leader of the starting unit, and he knows that opponents-like No. 15 Colgate (1-0) Friday at 4 p.m. and Harvard Sunday at 12 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium-will be well aware of his presence this season.
"I've never really experienced that," said Quinzani, who owns the national record for most points in a high school career. "Now I'm getting the first or second defender, not really ever getting a [short stick defenseman], always exchanging on me. It's nice for me because it's a bigger challenge."
Last year, a lot of Quinzani's goals came when he initiated behind the net or waited near the crease. That role could change now that Duke has lost Danowski's precise passing and Greer's laser shot, as well as the attention that those two players drew from opposing defenses.
"I'm going to have to dodge into a lot of doubles, get out and just move it onto the next guy, and hopefully there will be a play made after I make a pass or second pass after me," Quinzani said. "I'm going to have to do a lot of operating. I can't just be hanging around the crease and waiting for guys to leave me because probably I'm in a lot more scouting reports this year."
What makes Quinzani's situation unique, however, is not that he's taking on a bigger role this year. It's that he's the Blue Devils' only returning starter at his position.
Howell played attack in high school but switched to midfield when he came to Duke, and Crotty is a career midfielder. They are both trying to learn how to be attackmen for a team that has been in the Final Four the last two seasons.
Having one of the top scorers in the country as a teammate certainly doesn't hurt.
"We arguably had two of the best players ever last year, and the fact that [Quinzani] got to play with them and learn from them-it's huge," Crotty said. "He definitely helps us out a lot, and it's definitely nice to know that if I put the ball on his stick, he's most likely going to score."
As important as Quinzani will be to Duke's success, Danowski does not want to put too much pressure on his star attackman. After all, he was one of just two Division I players to score more than 50 goals in 2008, and he was an integral part of the Blue Devils' run to the Final Four. Duke will gladly take a similar output this season.
"We just want Max to be a little better than he was last year," Danowski said. "Be the best person you can be, and we'll work around that. We're not going to try to change you or make you something that you're not."
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