Despite a slow start, the Blue Devils solidified their defense in the second half to cruise past Jacksonville.
Just two days after its 12-8 win over No. 17 Pennsylvania, No. 10 Duke beat the Dolphins 16-7 in a nonconference contest Sunday at Koskinen Stadium.
“Really the main theme at halftime was ground balls,” Blue Devil head coach John Danowski said. “With more ground balls we’d have the opportunity to play more offense.”
Picking up ground balls to create more offensive opportunities proved crucial in the day’s contest, as Duke (2-1) outshot Jacksonville 49-27. The Blue Devils picked up 45 ground balls, significantly higher than their opponent’s 20.
But in the game’s first 8:30, the Dolphins (1-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Blue Devils’ Robert Rotanz, Jordan Wolf and Justin Turri, though, answered with three goals in under four minutes. With two seconds in the opening period, Jacksonville’s TJ Kenary notched a goal to tie the score at three going into the second period. The two teams traded goals until just before halftime, when Wolf and Turri each scored a goal to give Duke an 8-5 lead heading into the locker room.
“A lot of simple plays... just gave me a lot of space to go, so spacing was right, and people were in the right spots,” said Wolf, who scored three unassisted goals in the first half.
The second half was characterized by a more potent offensive attack on the Blue Devils’ part, as they scored five unanswered goals in the first 11:23 of the third period. Kenary put Jacksonville back up on the scoreboard with 2:05 remaining, one of just four shots the Dolphins took in the third period.
“There are players who are so one-handed that you try to make them make plays with their weak hand,” Danowski said. “We try to make players who are so dominant with their strong hand beat us with their weak hand, whether that’s passing or feeding or shooting.”
Christian Walsh added his second goal of the day with two seconds left in the third to keep Duke’s lead at 14-6 heading into the final period.
The Dolphins’ Cameron Mann notched his team’s final goal, which was quickly answered by Rotanz and freshman Will Haus, who scored his first career goal.
“Jacksonville didn’t have as much depth,” Danowski said. “We play a lot of people. We probably play twelve midfielders.... But I think that they have a bright future. I think they’re really well-coached, and I think that they’re going to be a terrific program going forward.”
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