When Harvard came to Durham last season to face Duke, Dan DiMaria sat on the sidelines for the Crimson after suffering a season-ending injury early in the year. Now a first-year student at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, DiMaria elected to use his final year of eligibility to suit up for the Blue Devils.
No. 12 Duke (7-4) will travel to Cambridge, Mass. Saturday to take on Harvard, where DiMaria will square off against his alma mater.
“It’s definitely going to be a unique experience that doesn’t happen every day,” he said. “I still follow them really closely, and [Harvard] is a big part of my life—where I grew up, where I became a man. That being said, Duke is my team now, and as much as I’m going to hug everyone after the game, I want Duke to win.”
Coming off a 16-7 loss to Albany Tuesday, the Crimson (4-4) will look to rise above .500 with a signature win against the Blue Devils. Prior to Tuesday’s matchup, Harvard hadn’t allowed more than 12 goals in a game this season. Limiting Duke won't be easy, as the Blue Devils rank seventh in the country in scoring offense with 12.6 goals per game.
“They’re going to be fired up to get back on the winning track,” Duke head coach John Danowski said. “Defensively, Harvard is extremely athletic. They challenge you, and they go to the man with the ball very tightly, very aggressively. They’re a very confident group defensively.”
When the Crimson traveled to Duke last season, Harvard showed a similar level of confidence on the offensive end of the field. After heading into the fourth quarter down 11-4, the Crimson racked up four goals and held the Blue Devils scoreless in the final period. Jeff Cohen, who led Harvard with 48 tallies last season as a senior, scored three times against Duke in the fourth quarter. Senior midfielder Alex White is this season’s leading scorer with 14 goals on the year, and attackman Devin Dwyer has also helped to fill the void left by Cohen’s departure. The freshman, who has notched 10 goals this season, is tied with junior attackman Peter Schwartz for the team lead in assists with 11.
“Devin Dwyer is a terrific player,” Danowski said. “He’s young, but he’s excellent. He played varsity when he was in eighth grade. [Harvard] shares the ball very well and has a lot of guys who are capable of scoring goals and making plays. They’re very deliberate and disciplined offensively, so with that discipline they want to wear you down.”
But wearing down the Blue Devils, who are on a five-game winning streak, will be a tall task for the Crimson. Duke scored 19 goals in each of its past two outings, and its defense limited Georgetown to seven goals last Saturday.
“If we play our game—our attack is great—we’ll be successful no matter who we play, be it Harvard or anyone in the country,” DiMaria said.
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