With the spring season underway, The Chronicle is polling readers every week via its Sportswrap newsletter to highlight one Blue Devil athlete’s outstanding performance. This week, the honor goes to graduate attacker Eric Malever of Duke men’s lacrosse:
Lacrosse is often viewed as a game of runs, with momentum swings being the difference-makers in the final score. On Saturday against Air Force, graduate attacker Eric Malever went on a run of his own, one that transformed a potential dramatic finish into a sure Duke win.
“I'm definitely happy that we got the win,” Malever said. “I'm happy with my performance, and I'm happy with my teammate’s performances.”
Malever scored twice in the first half, and the Blue Devils led 8-5 at halftime. The third quarter started with two goals by the Falcons, putting the Duke lead in jeopardy, before Malever tossed assists to Luke Grayum and Max Sloat to push the margin back to three.
Less than a minute later, the Atlanta native scored on a one-on-one curling up from behind the goal, then notched a man-up goal, dumping the ball behind Air Force goalie Jake Malek.
Malever scored again in the fourth quarter, and the Maryland transfer finished the game with an outstanding five goals and four assists in Duke’s 16-11 win. But it was his efforts in that three-minute span in the third quarter that put the game out of reach for the Falcons.
“I'm definitely aware of scoring that much, but more important it's about getting a win and having fun,” Malever said. “It felt like a lot, but I was just having a good time. It wasn't anything different. It was just fun.”
In just his first season with the program, Malever has already made his mark and leads the team in shots, goals and assists.
“He could’ve had seven or eight [goals] if he wanted to today,” head coach John Danowski said.
Following the win, the Blue Devils moved up to No. 8 in this week’s Inside Lacrosse poll. Next up for Danowski’s squad is another non-conference matchup Saturday at No. 14 Richmond.
Get to know Malever
- Favorite pregame meal: The night before a game, it's chicken parmesan all day.
- Favorite athletics memory: My first scrimmage back after injury against Harvard. It was my first time touching the field in over a year and a half. I scored a goal, so that was pretty cool. It was in a fall scrimmage at Springfield High School. My dad was a little emotional in the stands.
- Favorite hobby: I would say, sadly I play a lot of Xbox. My go-to game right now is NHL. I love playing pickleball and I love watching sports. I played in the Fuqua pickleball tournament and made it to the finals until someone unfortunately got hurt and they had to cancel the tournament.
- Favorite song: “I Won't Back Down” by Tom Petty
- Favorite class at Duke: Probably business communications. I liked the discussion part of the class.
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