No. 7 Duke Rolls Dartmouth 15-3
from press release
DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke University men's
lacrosse team had seven different players tally at least one goal
to lead the seventh-ranked Blue Devils to a commanding 15-3 win
over Dartmouth in non-conference action this evening at Koskinen
Stadium. The starting trio of Ned Crotty, Zach Howell and Max
Quinzani on attack combined for 15 points in the victory.
"They played zone against us and that is really rare in college
lacrosse," head coach John Danowski said. "Overall I was really
happy with the number of shots. I was happy with a lot of the
possessions. A bunch of different guys scored goals and that was
great."
Duke held the Big Green scoreless for 34:46 over a span of three
quarters and rattled off nine unanswered during that stretch to
remain unbeaten against Dartmouth all-time. The Blue Devils improve
to 5-3 on the year, while Dartmouth falls to 2-3. The three goals
allowed are the fewest by Duke this season and the fewest since
March 25, 2008 when the Blue Devils defeated Harvard 10-3.
"I think guys are getting better," Danowski said about his defense.
"There is a certain chemistry being developed as the season goes
on. I think there's also a certain focus because we've had some
days that weren't as good as we'd like. So I think the guys have
turned up their focus a little bit."
Crotty, Howell and Quinzani each had five points apiece. Howell and
Quinzani turned in matching four-goal and one assist performances
and Crotty contributed one marker and four assists.
The Blue Devils opened the scoring 1:24 into the game when Crotty
struck for his seventh goal of the season. Howell added a goal 29
seconds later to make it 2-0 before Dartmouth's Ari Sussman got on
the board at the 11:40 mark to cut the lead to 2-1.
Duke closed out the quarter with four unanswered for a 5-1 lead
after 15 minutes and added two more in the second frame to head
into the locker room with a 7-1 advantage. Four different players
tallied a goal during that five-goal run to finish the half.
Picking up right where they left off, the Blue Devils tacked on
four more goals in just 3:37 to make it 11-1 at the 8:25 mark of
the third quarter.
Nikki Dysenchuk registered an unassisted goal to stop Duke's
nine-goal run with 6:54 left in the period, but Duke would close
out the final 21:54 with four of the next five goals for the
win.
The Blue Devils dominated in all facets of the game, outshooting
the Big Green 44-21. They won the ground ball battle for the
seventh time this season, picking up 30 loose balls to Dartmouth's
21.
Duke's clearing game was nearly perfect at 24-of-26, while the
man-up offense was a perfect 4-of-4. Michael Manley helped anchor
the defense with a season-high four caused turnovers.
Senior Sam Payton went 5-of-14 at faceoffs and picked up five
ground balls and forced three turnovers.
In goal, freshman Dan Wigrizer made seven stops in 46:27 and Mike
Rock made one save in 13:33. For Dartmouth, Fergus Campbell played
the majority of minutes and made an impressive 15 stops.
Duke returns to action on March 27 at No. 10 Georgetown. Faceoff is
set for 12 p.m., on ESPNU.
