The Blue Devils could have enjoyed a sunny worry-free weekend at the end of finals week. Instead, they played a non-conference game to stay in shape before starting their journey to capture their third straight national championship.
Despite needing more than seven minutes before it attempted its first shot of the game, No. 4 Duke beat Boston University 13-7 Sunday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. The non-conference clash against the Terriers marked the last regular-season home game for 10 Blue Devils seniors and the team’s final rehearsal before the NCAA tournament.
“At this point of the season, we are where we wanted to be,” head coach John Danowski said. “We have learned different lessons from our trips to Stony Brook and Marquette and the ACC tournament games against Notre Dame and Syracuse. For the NCAA, they decide whom, when and where we are playing. It’s just out of our control so we’ll just do whatever they tell us.”
Duke (12-5) entered Sunday's game with an average of 14.6 goals per contest—the fourth best mark in the nation—but Boston University (6-8) took the lead first. After five unsuccessful shots, the Terriers broke the deadlock thanks to an assisted score by freshman attackman Jack Wilson with 9:34 to play in the first period.
Duke started gaining finding openings in the Boston University defense and got off three shots in a two-minute span. With 2:51 left in the opening quarter, freshman attackman Justin Guterding found veteran Kyle Keenan, who scored his ninth goal of the season to tie the score. One minute later, an unassisted tally by junior Deemer Class put the Blue Devils in front and junior attacker Case Matheis fed Guterding to make it 3-1.
After Wilson found sophomore attackman Pat Myers to reduce the two-goal deficit with 6:49 before the halftime horn sounded, sophomore midfielder Thomas Zenker assisted Jack Bruckner for his 42nd goal of the campaign, giving Duke a 4-2 lead just 22 seconds later.
But the Terriers were not going to give up easily, tying the game in a three-minute span thanks to goals by freshman Ryan Hilburn and sophomore Cal Dearth. Matheis and Hilburn added tallies before halftime and the teams went to the locker rooms tied 5-5
Boston University outshot the Blue Devils 23-17, captured more ground balls and doubled up Duke at the faceoff X in the first half, so the 15-minute break gave the Blue Devils some time to reflect on what they had to improve for the second part of the contest.
“[To get back on track after half time,] we said we needed to get in emotionally,” Matheis said. “We felt that, coming out of the first half, we weren’t playing the lacrosse we know we could play. Their faceoff player [Sam Talkow] is very talented and he gave Kyle Rowe a run for his money but when we got confident in the faceoff, we [had] Will Haus and the others chase him.”
Duke got off to a hot start in the third quarter, scoring the first three goals of the period and never looking back. Although junior All-American midfielder Myles Jones did not find the back of the net, he delivered two assists in a two-minute span, feeding Guterding and Bruckner for a 7-5 advantage.
With 7:48 left in the third quarter, the Blue Devils extended their lead to 8-6 thanks to a score by Justin George—his third of the season. Myers notched his second tally of the day to cut it to one but Guterding responded and made it a three-goal game once more time with 1:17 left in the third period.
Less than a minute into the last quarter, junior attacker Chad Cohan found the back of the net with an unassisted shot, but three minutes later, Wilson found his teammate Greg Farris to trim the deficit to 10-7.
If the Terriers had any hope to orchestrate a comeback with 12:19 left, Cohan, Guterding and Bruckner snapped it by scoring a goal apiece in the next four minutes to effectively close the book on the game.
With his four tallies Sunday, Guterding—the ACC Rookie of the Year—reached the 50-goal mark this season.
"The numbers the attack [unit] has put up have been astronomical and have been amazing,” Danowski said. “If you had said Justin [Guterding] would be a 50-goal scorer I would have said you’re out of your mind. Case’s [Matheis] numbers are now better than they were last year at this time. Those three guys have really started to play well together and it’s been really fun to watch.”
As the Blue Devils look to become the third team to take the national crown home three times in a row, they received the No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament and will battle Ohio State at Koskinen Stadium Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
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