Playing in unfamiliar surroundings, Duke found an unlikely hero to snap a losing skid against a familiar foe.
The No. 1 Blue Devils topped No. 4 Denver 14-10 Saturday at Duke's turf practice field. The victory was Duke's first against the Pioneers since 2007. Coming off the bench in the second period, sophomore goaltender Luke Aaron led the Blue Devils with a career-high nine saves.
"We beat Duke each of the last three years, and I’m sure they were a little tired of that. It is a great team with great coaches,” Denver head coach Bill Tierney said. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of losing to the defending national champions on February 15th.”
After Winter Storm Pax left more than six inches of wintry precipitation strewn across the Triangle, Duke had faced a number of weather-related obstacles leading up to Saturday's contest. Initially, it was unclear whether or not the game would be played because of the mass cancelations of flights at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Once Denver arrived late Friday night, the conversation shifted to field conditions. With the Blue Devils' usual home field at Koskinen Stadium still unplayable due to snow and ice, Duke played its first-ever regular season game on its brand new turf practice field, which just opened for use this year.
In addition to switching surfaces from grass to turf, playing the game on the practice field left the players more susceptible to the elements. Winds of 16 miles per hour whipped across the field and affected both teams' on-field communication.
"We're out there every day. It was actually a cool experience being out there with all of the fans around the field," said sophomore attack Deemer Class, who led the Blue Devils with three goals on the afternoon. "The wind affected communication a little bit, but I think we did a great job at echoing calls."
Duke (2-0) found the back of the net three times in the first five minutes to take an early 3-1 lead. As the Denver (1-1) attack settled in, the Blue Devils struggled defensively in the first period. A man-up goal by Zach Miller with three seconds remaining in the quarter cut the Pioneers' deficit to 5-4.
Head coach John Danowski went to his bench, calling for Aaron to replace sophomore netminder Kyle Turri, who registered just one save in the first quarter. Aaron played in just 10 games between the pipes for the Blue Devils as a freshman and has still yet to make his first collegiate start.
Denver's Jeremy Noble beat Aaron just 1:59 after the sophomore entered the game, but the Blue Devils would clamp down from there. Aaron revitalized the Duke defense, allowing just three goals in his first 36:55 in net as the Blue Devils jumped out to a 14-7 lead.
"We just felt that Luke’s been playing terrific in practice and that it was time to see if we could create a spark," Danowski said. "I think that when Luke made that first save, the guys really got excited and it helped us."
Duke finally found its offensive spark in the third quarter. Holding an 8-7 lead, the Blue Devils added six unanswered goals—including two apiece from Christian Walsh and Kyle Kennan—to put the game away.
"When the offense was down, defense picked it up and when the defense was down offense picked it up," Aaron said.
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