After dominating an overmatched Mercer squad Sunday afternoon, the Blue Devils almost seemed more concerned about the results of the Duke Men’s Basketball ACC Championship game than their own 18-5 victory.
The team was satisfied with the win, but after a week which featured an overtime triumph over then-No. 3 Maryland and an important win against No. 12 Loyola (3-1), the Blue Devils had to do no more than go through the motions. The Bears (0-9) never really had a chance against No. 15 Duke (4-2), and the Blue Devils’ backups played from the onset.
The starters, particularly on the defensive end, had more than earned their rest with their performance against the Greyhounds Friday.
Duke kept Loyola off the scoreboard until almost five minutes into the second half, by which point it had a nearly insurmountable nine-goal lead. The Blue Devils relied on their high-pressure defense, which generated 12 turnovers in the opening half, to disrupt the Loyola offense.
“This year, we’re very athletic, so we can get out and run and press out against the offense,” freshman defender Luke Duprey said. “That way we can force them to make mistakes so we can come up with the ball.”
Successful defensive performances have allowed starting goalie Dan Wigrizer to build confidence going forward from the game against Maryland. Despite starting for last year’s championship squad, Wigrizer struggled for long stretches of the season, yielding more than 9.4 goals per game and posting a save-percentage just under 51 percent.
Over his past two games, though, the goalkeeper posted a .638 save-percentage. Like most of the other Duke starters, Wigrizer did not play against Mercer.
“We are extremely pleased [with Wigrizer’s performance],” head coach John Danowski said. “We think he’s improved from his first two weeks of the season. I’m extremely pleased with his effort against Maryland and against Loyola.”
Wigrizer’s recent performance also catalyzed success for the rest of the team. When the team’s goalie is feeling confident, that carries over to the defense as well as the offense, Duprey said.
For a young team like the Blue Devils, the experience of putting together a winning streak is as important as the wins themselves.
“[The freshmen] don’t know anything about Duke Lacrosse except what they see on TV... so they have to experience it for the first time,” Danowski said. “They have to experience losing... and then experience beating Maryland and beating Loyola. All these things create a memory bank for them, and now they... have a little better frame of reference.”
Although the Blue Devils have a ways to go to reach last year’s heights, their newfound confidence is a good sign.
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