After taking Duke to five consecutive Final Four appearances in his first five seasons at the helm, head coach John Danowski stands on the brink of several impressive milestones. Saturday’s game against Rutgers, Danowski’s alma mater, will be his 100th game with the Blue Devils. Duke will open its season Saturday against the Scarlet Knights at Koskinen Stadium at 12 p.m.
Barring an upset, Danowski will improve his record to 81-19 at Duke and pick up his 300th career win in the process.
The Scarlet Knights, who were picked to finish sixth in the seven-team Big East by the conference’s coaches, should not prove too much trouble for the No. 2 Blue Devils. Duke returns the majority of its starters from last year’s squad while getting an additional boost to its defense in the return defenseman Michael Manley, a third-team All-American in 2010. Manley, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, was the first of four Blue Devils selected in the first nine picks of 2012’s Major League Lacrosse draft, held Jan. 12. Despite the seriousness of his injury, he is confident that practice has done more than enough to prepare him for the rigors of the game.
“I’m excited more than ever,” Manley said. “You sit out a year and it makes you realize how much you miss the game and just being out there with your best friends.”
Despite the lofty expectations that many have for this year’s Duke team, Danowski refuses to look too far ahead.
“I think I’ve learned not to have any expectations and to see what happens,” Danowski said. “You can practice well, you can scrimmage... but until the lights go on you really don’t know what you’re dealing with.”
Now, after a month of practice, the Blue Devils are ready to turn on the lights and start the season.
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