Duke opened Saturday’s game against Notre Dame much like it opened overtime against the Fighting Irish in the 2010 championship game. Senior CJ Costabile took the opening faceoff and streaked into the offensive zone before firing off a quick shot. Unlike his title-clinching shot two years ago, though, this one did not find the back of the net.
Neither did many other Duke shots, as the No. 2 Blue Devils (1-1) recorded their lowest offensive output in nearly a year and fell 7-3 to No. 9 Notre Dame (1-0) in South Bend, Ind. Duke has never scored fewer than three goals with John Danowski as head coach.
Just one game after the Blue Devils’ midfielders exploded for 11 of the team’s 16 goals in their season opener against Rutgers, they were held scoreless until Costabile buried a long-range shot with only 17 seconds left.
“Notre Dame’s defense and their goalie… did a terrific job,” Danowski said. “Their sum, the last couple year’s we’ve played them, seems to be greater than their parts. They believe in their system and they execute defensively very, very well.”
The game opened promisingly for Duke. After Fighting Irish goalie John Kemp blocked Costabile’s shot, the Blue Devils kept possession and got several quality looks before Josh Dionne buried the game’s opening goal. Duke played similarly on the defensive end, keeping Notre Dame’s offense out of rhythm and allowing goalie Dan Wigrizer to make seven saves without allowing a score.
But failed clears and an inability to convert on offensive opportunities foreshadowed a difficult afternoon for the Blue Devils’ attack. Duke turned the ball over nine times in the opening frame, with three of those coming on a failure to clear the ball following a defensive stop.
While Wigrizer was able to bail out his team in the early going, he could not keep up the pace as the game moved forward. After Jordan Wolf gave Duke a 2-0 lead, Notre Dame scored four straight goals, including three within a span of 1:42, to go into the half.
Coming out of the break, neither team was able to get much going offensively. Max Pfeiffer’s goal, which gave the Fighting Irish a 5-2 lead, was the only score of the third period. The Blue Devils—who put only eight of their 21 shots on goal in the second half—had chances to cut Notre Dame’s lead, but were unable to convert.
Danowski believes that the Fighting Irish deserve the credit for stymieing Duke’s potentially explosive offense, but he admitted that the Blue Devils missed some of their chances.
“We had shots and we had opportunities,” Danowski said. “And we either missed the goal or the goalie came up with a save…. Some days you’ve got to admit that you got beat by a better team.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.