Duke head coach John Danowski has approached this season as a clean slate. But four more wins—and a third consecutive national championship—would further solidify the Blue Devils' case as the dominant program of the decade.
The fifth-seeded Blue Devils will open the NCAA tournament at the friendly confines of Koskinen Stadium, hosting Ohio State Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Duke (12-5) suffered through a three-game losing streak midway through the season—all against top-five opponents—but began hitting its stride down the stretch. The Blue Devils enter postseason play winners of five of their last six contests, including a 13-7 victory against Boston University earlier Sunday.
Freshman attackman Justin Guterding has keyed the Duke offense all season, netting 50 goals in his first year in Durham. A now-healthy midfield headlined by All-American Myles Jones, junior Deemer Class and sophomore Jack Bruckner has created openings for Guterding and paved the way for the team's 14.5 goals per game, helping replace the production lost from last year's team and Tewaaraton Award finalist Jordan Wolf.
Between the pipes, Danowski made a change midseason, inserting redshirt freshman Danny Fowler in the place of junior Luke Aaron. Fowler—the younger brother of former faceoff specialist Brendan Fowler—has racked up 101 saves and stopped 49.5 percent of shots against him and has started Duke's past eight games.
Ohio State (11-6) was on the bubble entering Selection Sunday, but made the field after upsetting Maryland in the Big Ten tournament semifinals. Although the Buckeyes fell 13-6 in the conference tournament title game to Johns Hopkins, they have shown the ability to compete with the best teams in the nation. In addition to knocking off the Terrapins, Ohio State beat perennial power Denver 13-11 March 14.
Should the Blue Devils advance past the Buckeyes, they will face the winner of the first-round matchup between No. 4 seed Denver and Brown. Duke fell to the then-No. 1 Pioneers 17-13 early in the season Feb. 14 and defeated Denver last year in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament on its way to the national title.
The Blue Devils have fond memories as the No. 5 seed in the tournament. Duke was the fifth seed in 2010 when it captured its first national title.
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