Blue Devils bounce back

Senior Max Quinzani’s four goals were enough to seal Duke’s win over No. 9 Loyola Friday.
Senior Max Quinzani’s four goals were enough to seal Duke’s win over No. 9 Loyola Friday.

After tough back-to-back conference losses, the Blue Devils bounced back Saturday with an 8-5 win at No. 9 Loyola, giving the Greyhounds (3-2) an unpleaseant housewarming gift in their first game at the new Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore.

No. 8 Duke (3-3) found itself in an early hole when Loyola attackman and former Blue Devil player Collin Finnerty netted the game’s first goal at the 5:03 mark of the first period. Duke would equalize minutes later when midfielder Mike Catalino scored with 1:41 left in the first. But with heavy rain in the area yielding sloppy playing conditions, goals were hard to come by until Blue Devil midfielder Steve Schoeffel scored off a Ned Crotty assist with 7:43 left in the second period, sparking a five-goal Duke run that gave the visitors all the breathing room they would need to pull out a win.

With a goal by Crotty followed by three consecutive scores by senior attackman Max Quinzani, the Blue Devils led 5-1 before Loyola could muster its second score at the 9:27 mark of the third period. Loyola’s scoreless streak of 30:30 was the longest goal drought that Duke has held an opponent to all season.

Quinzani led all scorers with four goals, while Crotty notched a goal and four assists, three of which came on Quinzani’s goals. The four-goal effort stretched the senior attackman’s scoring streak to 52 straight games and was the sixth time this season that Quinzani has recorded a hat trick or better. Finnerty led Loyola’s scoring effort with three goals.

—from staff reports

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