Following their first loss of the season, the Blue Devils rebounded to give head coach John Danowski his 350th career win.
Coming off a tough 17-13 loss to No. 1 Denver Saturday, No. 3 Duke rode a dominant second quarter performance to an easy 16-6 win against Mercer Sunday at Anderson Field. The victory marked Danowski’s 131st with the program and 350th overall, making him only the fourth college lacrosse coach to reach 350 wins at any level and just the second to do so against Division I competition.
Despite the large margin of victory, the Blue Devils did not come into this game underestimating the Bears, especially given their challenging defeat the previous day.
“We knew this was going to be difficult,” Danowski said. “A lot of emotion was left on the field, a lot of energy. But you don’t become a tough team without being in tough situations. We thought that, regardless of the outcome of yesterday, we’re going to have to get up and play again against a team that was well rested, had a week to prepare for us, and I think our guys handled it overall really well.”
The Bears (0-2) got off to the better start, opening the scoring with a goal by James Tautkus and playing strong defense early on against Duke(3-1). The Blue Devils then got on the board with a goal by senior defenseman Will Haus—the All-American's first of the season. The Blue Devils added two more goals by Jack Bruckner and Seamus Connelly before Mercer added a second to end the first quarter trailing 3-2.
“We played through the tough times,” Danowski said. “Mercer had a lot of energy early, we missed a couple of layups, and you got to tip your cap to their goalie, but we just kept playing.”
The second quarter was a different story though. Duke overpowered the Bears with its strong offense and impressive goalkeeping by Luke Aaron—who recorded 19 saves on the day—as it outscored Mercer 6-1 in the quarter to head into the half leading 9-3.
Following their dominant second quarter, the Blue Devils cruised in the second half, as Mercer posed little threat. Two goals by junior Myles Jones and one by Tanner Scott extended the Duke lead to 12-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
With such a large lead, the Blue Devils were able to play the majority of the final period with their second and third midfield units on the field, giving valuable playing experience to many of the team’s younger players. Freshman Jake Seau was able to score his first goal in a Duke uniform, and junior John Shaffer added his first goal of the season to finish off the 16-6 win.
Sunday’s win was yet another dominant performance for Jones, who added three goals and four assists. The effort brought his season total to 23 points in just four games and, making a strong early case for Jones' Tewaaraton Trophy candidacy—given annually to the nation's best player. The Blue Devils also received strong performances from midfielder Deemer Class and Bruckner, who both finished the day with three goals and one assist apiece. Duke received strong play across the board, as 10 different Blue Devils hit the back of the net.
“More people contributed today,” Danowski said. “More people got playing time, and Luke Aaron was more consistent today from beginning to end.”
The win was not only significant for the way Duke bounced back from its first defeat, but also in that it gave Danowski his 350th career win. Danowski, who began his head-coaching career at C.W. Post in 1983, was the head coach at Hofstra University for 21 seasons before moving to Duke in 2007. Taking over for Mike Pressler following the team’s sexual assault scandal, Danowski has led the program to the top of college lacrosse, reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in all of his eight seasons as head coach and capturing the national title in three of those years.
Duke will look to continue to build on this victory next Sunday at Stony Brook and give Danowski win No. 351.
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