After tough road losses to No. 1 Syracuse and then-No. 10 Denver, Duke needed a chance to build morale leading up to its duel with No. 6 Virginia.
A matchup against undermanned Presbyterian (2-8) was just what the doctor ordered, as the Blue Devils pummeled the Blue Hose 18-6 Monday night at Koskinen Stadium.
Thirty-nine players saw action for the Blue Devils (9-4), who scored less than a minute into the game to set the tone for the night.
“The neat thing for us, tonight, was everybody played...and everybody played the Duke way,” head coach John Danowski said. “It’s gotta help build a real positive at the beginning of the week.”
Presbyterian, which is cutting its lacrosse program after an unsuccessful five-season run as a varsity team and has a roster of only 25 players, was never really a match for Duke.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 10-2 halftime lead by out-shooting the Blue Hose 21-8 in the first half and never looked back. No. 9 Duke converted five of its six extra-man opportunities on offense while the defense employed its athleticism to completely disrupt Presbyterian’s offense with strong physical play. The Blue Hose managed just 26 shots for the entire game, and only half of those were on goal.
The 25 turnovers committed by Presbyterian allowed Duke to run its fast-paced offense to perfection. Jesse Fehr led the way with three goals and an assist, but it seemed like everyone got in on the scoring action as 15 Blue Devils notched goals on the night.
“I don’t think I’ve ever coached a game where 15 different guys have scored a goal,” Danowski said. “It shows we were unselfish, we moved the ball.... That probably represents what happened, statistically, as well as any other statistic that you could pick out.”
Of those 15 players, five scored their first goal of the season; three of those five—freshmen Henry Lobb and Luke Duprey, as well as junior Andrew Vekstein—scored the first goal of their career.
Emptying the bench, Danowski said, was not only a great way to build morale, but also a reward for players who work hard in practice but don’t necessarily get much individual recognition or playing time.
“We wanted to have everybody get in,” Danowski said. “We wanted all the guys who work so hard during the season to see...important time—to play first quarter, second quarter.
“Casey Shannon, who played goalie and played very well in the goal for us tonight, has never played goalie until this year.... He was a senior and walked onto the team and he’s playing goalie for us. And I think that gave the team a great lift when he made some saves and cleared the ball.”
The Blue Devils will now prepare for their last ACC contest of the regular season against Virginia Saturday.
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