Duke men's lacrosse 2024 season review

Overview

In equal parts due to Duke’s illustrious history with the sport, the coaching pedigree of head coach John Danowski and the small-but-top-heavy nature of college lacrosse, anything short of Championship Weekend is considered a failure in Durham. Even a national title game appearance in 2023 — and I share this opinion — was a bit disappointing given the manner of the loss. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, their 2024 season ended two games earlier than that, with three more losses and four fewer ACC wins.

So many pieces were there to make a run. 2023 Tewaaraton Award winner Brennan O’Neill cooked up All-American numbers for the fourth year in a row, while graduates Dyson Williams and Josh Zawada stuffed the statsheets themselves. Senior Jake Naso, even when injured or out of form, still competed with the country’s best FOGOs. Graduate student Kenny Brower was one of the best defensemen in the country again, Tyler Carpenter was quietly one of the team’s best players at LSM and freshman goalie Patrick Jameison showed immense promise between the pipes.

But an electric start that featured 83 goals in four games plastered over many an ax wound, and Duke's high-flying attack never jelled enough with their largely inexperienced midfield and creaky defense. 

An early season loss to Penn set off alarm bells, but it was the ACC gauntlet that really killed the Blue Devils' momentum. A 10-4 hammering in Syracuse, N.Y., preceded a home loss to then-No. 1 Notre Dame, and the regular season was bookended by a win against Virginia with a loss at North Carolina. Come the postseason, first-round victories in the ACC and NCAA tournament were convincing, before second-round collapses to the Fighting Irish and Maryland, respectively, shot Duke back to Earth. For a season that at point showed so much promise, its unceremonious end can be only considered disappointing. 

Now comes the tallest task: prepping for 2025. Williams, Zawada and O’Neill are all gone to the pros, as are Naso, Carpenter and Brower. Rising senior midfielder Andrew McAdorey is the only returner of proven All-American stock, despite a promising supporting cast of Benn Johnston and Max Sloat. Henry Bard and Keith Boyer have work to do in filling Brower’s enormous shoes on defense, adding pressure and urgency for Jameison to develop. The attack will have to be completely rebuilt, as will the starting faceoff line.

That’s by no means a death sentence for a team with the Blue Devils’ staying power, but 2024 was the end of a clear championship window, and there’s a long offseason until we know if a new one will open. -Andrew Long

Results relative to expectations

Duke’s win against then-No. 2 Virginia stands as its most impressive in the context of the season. Just a week prior, the Blue Devils fell to then-No. 1 Notre Dame in a heartbreaking 15-12 loss, but the team’s 18-12 conquering of the Cavaliers helped place Danowski’s squad back on track. 

Virginia visited Koskinen Stadium with only a single loss and five ranked victories on its resume. Following the Cavaliers’ first goal, Naso left the field with an apparent ankle injury. But later, he returned and scored two goals for his team alongside O’Neil and Zawada’s four and five goal performances, respectively. Following losses to Syracuse and Notre Dame, the win was Duke’s first conference victory of the season and its only victory against a top-two ranked squad in the nation. -Schwabe

MVP: Josh Zawada

It’s tough to say anyone but O’Neill here, but I’m actually going to lobby for his teammate on the forward line.

Zawada’s 78 points were only three below O’Neill’s hefty tally, contributing far more assists and providing the creative eye the Blue Devils needed as O’Neill consistently drew the opposition’s No. 1 defenseman. Zawada’s speed and dodging ability, as well as his knack for goals from the X, is an archetype Duke has lacked since Michael Sowers left. I’m not necessarily comparing the two skill-wise, but Zawada fit Duke’s system way better than Sowers ever did, and the Blue Devils’ attack was consistently one of the country’s best when he was at full tilt.

Perhaps the best evidence is that in Duke’s last game of the season, first-team All-American Maryland defender Ajax Zappitello was not hooked to O’Neill or Dyson Williams, but Zawada. And, well, we know how that game turned out. -Long

Accolades

Highlighting the copious talent on this year’s roster, the Blue Devils had eight USILA All-American selections. Brower, McAdorey and O’Neill won First Team recognition, while sophomore Aidan Maguire and Carpenter were selected for the Second Team. Finally, Naso, Williams and Zawada each earned an honorable mention. 

The 2023 Tewaaraton Award Winner, O’Neill was selected as a finalist for the biggest honor in college lacrosse once more thanks to his 54 goals and 27 assists this year. Ultimately, the Bay Shore, N.Y., native, in his last year of college eligibility, came up short, losing out to Notre Dame’s Pat Kavanagh. - Luke Jovanovic

Professional plans

O’Neill and Zawada were respectively selected as the No. 1 and No. 19 by the Denver Outlaws.  Brower went at No. 15 to the Philadelphia Waterdogs just before Williams was scooped up at No. 16 by the Utah Archers. At No. 26, Carpenter was selected by the New York Atlas.

Duke’s five picks in the 2024 PLL College Draft was the most of any school. - Schwabe

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