PHILADELPHIA—In Duke’s first six trips to lacrosse’s championship weekend since 2007, it has left empty-handed all but once.
The Blue Devils hope that their seventh straight appearance on lacrosse’s biggest stage in head coach John Danowski’s tenure will yield their second national championship in program history.
Seventh-seeded Duke (15-5) defeated Cornell Saturday in a 16-14 thriller to advance to the championship game for the fourth time in program history. The last time Duke made it this far was 2010, when it defeated Notre Dame 6-5 in overtime to win the NCAA title.
The Blue Devils will face No. 1 seed Syracuse (16-3) Monday at 1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field with a national championship on the line.
“Syracuse is the number one seed and deservedly so,” Danowski said. “They play great as a team, are extremely unselfish on offense and athletic defensively. It’s a great opportunity for our young men.”
After opening the season with a 16-15 loss to Albany, the Orange posted a 13-2 record for the rest of its regular season on its way to becoming Big East champions. Syracuse began its NCAA Tournament run with a 12-7 victory over Bryant, but then snuck by both No. 11 Yale and No. 6 seed Denver with one-goal victories.
Against Denver, the Orange did not lead until junior attack Derek Maltz scored the game-winning goal with 19.2 seconds left in the game.
“The ball tricked off of [Denver goaltender Jamie Faus] chest and I was basically just in the right spot at the right time,” Maltz said. “I’m just thankful that the ball went in the back of the net and we’re moving on.”
Considering Duke’s two-goal win against the Big Red was its largest margin of victory of the postseason—after it beat both Loyola and Notre Dame by 12-11 scores—another one-goal game might be in the teams’ futures.
“We don’t really enjoy these one-goal games,” Orange midfielder JoJo Marasco said. “It’s nice we’ve pulled out all these great games against nationally-ranked teams. We’re playing another top team in Duke. I can see it being a very close game.”
Marasco has fueled Syracuse’s offense all season. The senior leads the team in both assists and points, with 41 and 63 respectively. Luke Cometti is the Orange’s leading goal-scorer with 33, and Maltz is second with 32.
Danowski emphasized that Syracuse’s balanced offense is one of their biggest assets going into the championship game.
“Everybody wants to write about individuals, but [Syracuse] is a team,” Danowski said. “Individuals can sometimes have a bad day, can hit the pipe, have a fight with their girlfriend the night before. But teams are tough to defend, and that’s why they’re still alive.”
Syracuse has struggled at the faceoff X throughout postseason play. Freshman Cal Paduda took the majority of the team’s draws against Denver, and he was just 7-for-17 on the day. Paduda has won 44.9 percent of his draws this season—no team has ever won a national championship with a specialist winning fewer than 49.0 percent of his faceoffs.
Duke appears to have an advantage at the faceoff X on paper. Junior specialist Brendan Fowler set the NCAA record for the most faceoff victories in a single season against Cornell with 319. Fowler ranks third in the NCAA this season by winning 64.1 percent of his attempts at the X.
“We’ve lived with [our faceoff situation] all year long,” Syracuse head coach John Desko said. “Some of the things we make up for it are with our efficiency on offense. You look at the number of turnovers we [are] able to cause… it makes up for the gap for the number of faceoffs that we [lose].”
Sophomore goaltender Kyle Turri recorded a career-high 16 saves against Cornell. Earlier this season Turri replaced concussed senior goaltender Dan Wigrizer, Duke’s starting netminder in the 2010 national championship game. But after compiling a 13-1 record in the net this season, it may soon be Turri’s turn to be a champion.
“Yesterday was the best game of his career, and the hope is that that is his new baseline… [and] that he’ll grow in confidence from that game,” Danowski said. “If we’re going to be successful, we’re going to need great goalie play Monday.”
Danowski also stressed the importance of offensive balance to his team’s success. After failing to shut down Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Rob Pannell against Cornell, the Blue Devils will face another of college lacrosse’s stars in Syracuse’s Marasco. Nine different Duke players scored and eight recorded assists in the team’s semifinal victory, something Danowski said could lead to his team hoisting a national championship trophy Monday.
“The ideal is on [my] wish list, I want a balanced team and a team that shares the ball and is unselfish,” Danowski said. “Every year it doesn’t always work out that way. ‘Coach, I can get one goal a game’… that’s always ideal [for a player]. We’ve had tremendous balance from day one.”
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