In No. 5 Duke’s dominating 20-6 win over Siena last Saturday, the new-look Blue Devils showed some of the same offensive firepower that made them a championship team last season.
But that game was really little more than a warm-up for the team’s title-game rematch with No. 6 Notre Dame(0-0)—which trails Duke (1-0) by just a single point in the Inside Lacrosse preseason rankings—that will take place this Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla.
“It’s exciting especially playing a team like that really early,” said C.J. Costabile, who scored the game-winning goal against the Fighting Irish last May. “They’re a really good team. They didn’t graduate a lot of people, and they have a really good defensive unit.”
Really good might be an understatement. The Fighting Irish boast a defensive unit composed almost entirely of juniors and seniors. And the defense is used to success: Over the last five years, it has maintained a top-five ranking each season. Last year, the Blue Devils had two of their worst offensive performances against Notre Dame, scoring only seven goals in an 11-7 loss in Durham and just six goals in the national title game, which was the lowest scoring final in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
With that history in mind, it would be remarkable for Duke to repeat its performance against Siena. Saturday’s 14-goal margin of victory was larger than last year’s team managed all season, but it will take more than one solid scoring performance to mach the accomplishments of last year’s graduating class. Three players from that team were taken in the top four picks of the Major League Lacrosse draft, and a total of 16 players graduated from last year’s squad.
Still, the current team has experience coming up big in the clutch.
Most of the Blue Devils’ production in the championship game actually came from current players, including Costabile’s game-winning goal just five seconds into overtime. Senior Zach Howell, who led the team with seven goals and two assists against the Saints last Saturday, contributed two goals and an assist in the championship game.
Notre Dame, however, is conspicously missing one player—the physically imposing 6-foot-4 goalie Scott Rodgers, who won the 2010 NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player award for carrying his team to the finals against Duke and posting 15 saves in that game, graduated in the spring. His replacement, John Kemp, is a good deal smaller at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, but saw some game action during last year’s campaign when Rodgers was injured.
Costabile acknowledged that scoring will be a struggle but also said that it’s one challenge the team can handle.
“John Kemp is very good,” Costabile said. “[But] I love the challenge and I think all the guys on the team will embrace that challenge. It doesn’t matter who’s on the other side—it’s a different color, we’re excited and pumped up to play.”
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