Rock Solid

Duke gave head coach John Danowski the best birthday gift a team can give for three quarters, and then nearly gave it away as Harvard staged a furious fourth-quarter rally.

The No. 14 Blue Devils (4-3) rode solid play from goalie Mike Rock and an offensive explosion in the third quarter to defeat the Crimson (2-3) 11-8 and avoid a third straight loss.

Duke entered the game with one of the nation’s worst extra-man offenses but scored on two straight opportunities and finished 2-for-4 in the game, a marked improvement from its 2-for-23 start to the season. Four players came up with multi-point performances for the Blue Devils, who improved to 4-0 in games in which they score 10 or more goals. But the most important statistic against Harvard was ground balls.

Danowski has always stressed the importance of ground balls and Monday night was no exception. At halftime he wrote three keys to victory on the team’s whiteboard and listed “Ground Balls” for each one. The team collected 32 to Harvard’s 20, but Danowski was less concerned with the numbers than the effort behind them.

“We were very happy with our effort for three quarters,” Danowski said. “But we were very unhappy with our fourth quarter.... Fortunately we had a comfortable enough lead, but that’s a formula for disaster somewhere down the road.... It has to be a four-quarter effort.”

Duke built its lead as the result of a seven-goal run in the third quarter after being tied 4-4 at halftime. Danowski and sophomore Jordan Wolf, who finished the game with two goals and two assists, both stressed the importance of keeping the offensive scheme simple and not trying to do too much. That happened in large part as a result of the confidence gained by having a lead and solid goaltending at the other end of the field.

Rock, who replaced Wigrizer in the second quarter of Saturday’s loss to Loyola, solidified his position as the team’s starting goalie with his performance Monday night. While he committed three turnovers to bring his total to four—more than Wigrizer and freshman Kyle Turri combined—Rock has been the most consistent shot-stopper. He came up with 12 saves against the Crimson to raise his save percentage to .595 for the year. In contrast, Wigrizer entered the contest with a .523 save percentage and a 1-2 record. He has saved fewer than half the shots he faced in two games, including giving up seven goals and saving just one shot against Loyola. Turri was one of the nation’s top recruits and has amassed a 2-1 record, but his wins belie a .444 save percentage.

“Mike was good in the goal but disappointing clearing the ball,” Danowski said. “Kyle is great clearing the ball but right now stopping the ball we need a little more. We’re just trying to go off what we see in practice and who the best player is.”