Duke’s streak of four games in nine days ended Sunday afternoon, but the Blue Devils’ seven-game winning streak continued as they won 16-7 over Jacksonville.
No. 7 Duke (9-3) jumped out to an 11-4 halftime lead against the Dolphins (4-6) and never looked back against the first-year program.
Head coach John Danowski credited Jacksonville for its effort and intensity in making the game competitive.
“[I was] extremely impressed. For the number of freshmen... their guys were organized, they had a plan and they played hard,” Danowski said. “I thought their goalie was terrific. Their faceoff guy [sophomore Mike Wallenhorst] played well.”
Although Wallenhorst was able to win nine of 15 faceoffs and the Dolphins won 13 of 25 total, Duke still controlled the game and overwhelmed Jacksonville’s defense, particularly in the first half. The Blue Devils outshot the Dolphins 24-10 in the first two periods and, despite being outshot by three in the second half, kept their lead with long possessions to close out the game.
Duke’s balanced offense was on full display Sunday, as nine players scored and six contributed multiple goals, led by senior midfielder Mike Catalino’s three scores. The diverse attack resulted in Duke’s sixth consecutive double-digit scoring output.
In its first several games, Duke struggled to come together as a team, but the early-season troubles now serve as motivation and valuable experience for the red-hot Blue Devils.
“Sometimes you’ve got to lose a little bit,” Danowski said. “I think it gets everybody to hunker down and recognize that we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do.... Just as the Jacksonville kids are all freshmen, every new experience you get better... [Freshman goalie Dan] Wigrizer had eight saves and let up five goals—that’s a great percentage. He was 75 percent the other night against Harvard in front of 13,000 people. And then two days, or 36 hours later, you’re playing another game. So this is all great for his confidence.”
Wigrizer and the Blue Devils, who beat No. 15 Harvard 14-5 Friday night, are building momentum at the right time—there are only two more regular season games before the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament.
“We just get better each week,” Danowski said. “We have next week to prepare for Presbyterian on Friday night. Then the week after that we have a full week to prepare for Virginia.... Now we’re taking a deep breath. We’re going to give the guys two days off. It couldn’t have come at a better time in terms of the basketball program. You know, the guys Monday night can just be students, watch the game and hopefully go to the bonfire.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.