Duke lacrosse begins title defense against Jacksonville

The defense of the national championship begins for Duke.

After a whirlwind 2013 season in which they started 2-4 only to win 14 of their final 15 games en route to their second title in four seasons, the No. 1 Blue Devils will get back on the field for the first time Saturday at Koskinen Stadium. Duke and Jacksonville will meet for the fifth time in as many years in the season opener for both teams. The Blue Devils have won each of the four previous meetings, including a lopsided 21-9 affair last February.

"The script doesn't change for anybody here," head coach John Danowski said of his team's offseason preparations after winning the national title. "The guys know what our culture is. It's built on a strong work ethic, on teamwork, on accountability."

Reigning NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player Brendan Fowler participated in offseason workouts with the team for the first time this year. A midfielder whose prowess at the faceoff X was crucial to Duke's title run, Fowler had spent three years as a walk-on linebacker on the Duke football team but did not suit up for the Blue Devils this season, freeing him up to participate in fall lacrosse workouts.

"I really challenged Brendan on not playing [football] this year, but the hope is that he'll play again next year," Danowski said. "I wanted him to see it through, especially because they had such a spectacular year in the fall. But I think Brendan would have liked to have been captain, his younger brother [goalie Danny Fowler] is here now as a freshman, and he wanted to be a leader on this team."

Having his faceoff man with the team for offseason workouts for the first time, Danowski employed an interesting coaching tactic for Fowler—the senior was not allowed to take any faceoffs.

"He hadn't taken faceoffs in the three previous falls and he takes so many during the season that we didn't want to beat him up," Danowski said. "He was able to be a lacrosse player during the fall, and that should help him offensively, defensively, all over the field."

The Dolphins, members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, finished last season 8-5, with the season-opening defeat at Duke their lone road blemish. Jacksonville returns its second-leading goal-scorer from a season ago in junior attack Ari Waffle, who posted 18 goals and 12 assists in 2013. Senior goalie Pete DeLuca will be tasked with limiting a Blue Devil offense that averaged 15.5 goals per game in its final 14 contests.

DeLuca did not see action against the Blue Devils in last year's contest, but did face Duke in his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a freshman, he tallied 20 saves in a 10-6 loss.

"They're going to be much improved. They've got a lot of players back and three or four transfers from Rutgers and Denver, so they've got some new people that they're looking at," Danowski said of the Dolphins. "The two goalies that did play against us did not play another second the rest of the season.... We know [DeLuca's] capable of having a great day."

Some of the most potent weapons on that prolific Duke offense have already heard their names called at the professional level. A program-record six Blue Devils were selected in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse Draft, including No. 2 overall pick and three-time All-ACC selection Jordan Wolf. The senior enters his final year in Durham with 120 goals and 81 assists and is coming off the best season of his career, amassing 58 tallies and 28 helpers. Josh Dionne, who finished second on the team with 45 goals last season, was one of four Blue Devils drafted by the Charlotte Hounds.

"The MLL is for other people to judge, and it's kind of meaningless to us," Danowski said. "I hope they do play if they choose to, but that's not something we use as an indicator of what we could become [this season]."

Saturday's game marks the beginning of a long homestand for the Blue Devils, who don't play their first road game of the season until March 1. As part of the four-game stretch, Duke will have the opportunity to avenge two of last year's early-season losses against Denver and Penn.

In preparing to face Jacksonville, Danowski echoed a sentiment long articulated by Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski—people like to beat Duke. As reigning NCAA champions, the target on the Blue Devils' backs will be even larger this season.

"We're going to get everybody's best effort," Danowski said. "We know the Jacksonville kids have had all preseason to focus on this game.... They've had all preseason to prepare for us, and they're going to give us their best shot."