March 10, 2008

by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Photographer John Strohsacker says he can't shoot Duke lacrosse. He's either faked out of his lens or the ball moves around the cage like a comet in the constellation. It's an effort in futility.

Imagine how Loyola must have felt Saturday.

It wasn't long before Strohsacker and the rest of photographers' row at Geppi-Aikens Field dropped their bags and staked down their tripods to become the Danowski-Greer paparazzi. Invariably, the Blue Devils, who will undoubtedly be the No. 1-ranked team in the country when the USILA poll comes out today, are about Matt Danowski and Zack Greer.

And it's in that order, too.

Danowski joked in the fall that his father, Duke head coach John Danowski, might prefer Greer for his son. "There's definitely points I think he'd rather have Greer as a son than me," he kidded. "Greer was playing so well in the beginning of last year, and I was playing terrible. I thought there was a little love lost there."

The younger Danowski, on crutches at the time following offseason foot surgery, got a chance to see what Duke lacrosse would be like without him - what Greer could do without Danowski.

What he saw was what former Blue Devils head coach Mike Pressler saw when he recruited the Whitby, Ontario, native from the Canadian junior ranks: a slick, left-handed finisher who catches everything in sight.

You could drop a dime in front of the cage, and Greer would find a way to deposit it between seams of nylon.

But we may never find out - on the collegiate level, anyway - how Robin would fare without Batman.

Greer, whose four goals Saturday and 15 goals this season give him 156 for his career, acknowledged afterward that he has looked into using his NCAA-granted fifth year of eligibility to play Division I hockey elsewhere in 2008-09.

"Eligibility-wise, it doesn't look like it's going to work, because it's a transfer rule where you'd have to take a year off, so you'd have to apply. And then the money would have to come from a hockey team as well, so it's just too much complication to work out," he said. "I've got some friends playing D-I hockey, and I played all the way up to it, so I thought, why not give it a shot? It would've been nice, but it didn't work out. It's not a big deal."

No, but Greer, now just 36 goals shy of Gary Gait's career record, could put to rest any lingering questions about his ability to perform at the same level without Danowski if he returned in 2009.

With the ACC and, presumably, NCAA tournaments in line this spring, Greer should eclipse Gait as a natural senior. But his decision to return for a fifth year of lacrosse in Durham more likely hinges on Memorial Day, not records or reputations.

After coming within one goal of a Division I national championship in two of the last three years, would Greer call it a career and join his brethren in the professional playing ranks if Duke won it all in `08?

"I think that's part of it," Greer admitted, "but at the same time, we're so young and we're so talented that, if that would happen, why not think two in a row?"

Asked if he might like to show others what he could do without Danowski, who on Saturday became the ACC's all-time leading scorer, Greer recoiled. "It doesn't even come into my mind. It's not an option. Never thought about it before in my life. Not worried about that."

Cryptic as ever, Greer leaves a window wide open, the quintessential finisher's future incomplete and uncertain. Perhaps we should join photographers' row and marvel at Danowski and Greer, while we can, rather than question how good one would be without the other.

It's curtains for the greatest duo of the modern lacrosse era.

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Take Five

1. Sophomore midfielder Erin Rawlcik scored five goals and freshman midfielder Meg Decker added three goals and three assists to lead the Navy women's lacrosse team to a convincing 18-6 victory over Cincinnati in a battle of new Division I programs Saturday. The Midshipmen, who also beat St. Mary's on Sunday, are 5-0 heading into Patriot League play this week.

My take: Navy's schedule being what it is, and the Patriot League being what it is, can a first-year program go 16-0 by the end of April?

2. Stanford's women's lacrosse team registered its second straight top-10 upset Sunday when the No. 20-ranked Cardinal led wire to wire in a 10-8 win over No. 6-ranked Penn in California.

My take: This harkens back to my free verse Friday in LMO's "Ten to Watch" feature, but if I'm a Division I women's lacrosse coach, you could not pay me enough to play a team on the West Coast. Oregon also swept Notre Dame and Temple in the East West Challenge that culminated Saturday in the Rose Bowl. To quote myself, "The West Coast hasn't been this good since Tupac." To quote LMO editor Jac Coyne, "What's a Tupac?"

3. A rematch of the 2007 Division II men's lacrosse national championship game was not much of a rematch, after all. No. 1-ranked Le Moyne, the defending national champion, trounced No. 6-ranked Mercyhurst, 17-1, Sunday night in the Carrier Dome.

My take: Must have been a productive eight days in Erie, Pa., after the Lakers' fall from grace really began March 1 with an overtime loss to Wingate.

4. No. 3 Virginia edged No. 11 Princeton, 12-10, Saturday at Princeton Stadium in the first-ever regular season college lacrosse game televised nationally on ESPN.

My take: I didn't see the broadcast, but from what I'm told, the torrent weather kept fogging up the camera view. It's unfortunate for the sport. I'd hate to see the worldwide leader get down on lacrosse and pan to bowling the next time it needs filler before college basketball. There's nothing more anticlimactic than when the crew of "NFL Countdown" fades for a shot of Walter Ray Williams addressing the stripe during pro football season.

5. No. 1 Northwestern christened a new women's lacrosse playing facility in Evanston, Ill., this weekend by beating Duquesne and No. 17 Boston University by a combined score of 40-18.

My take: The Wildcats are 5-0 and have outscored opponents 99-33, with Ohio State and UMass on tap as this week's patsies. Check back in March 24, when Northwestern's real season begins at Syracuse. Until then, the goals will continue to accumulate faster than the snow did Sunday against BU.

Quote of the Week

"I was just trying to stay alive when I saw the guys running out there. I thought I was going to get my head taken off. I got a fat lip from it, but it was all worth it."
- Hofstra freshman Jay Card, after scoring the winning goal, his fourth of the game, in overtime to down No. 1 Johns Hopkins.
(Source: Newsday)

Stat of the Week

The Navy women's lacrosse team did not allow a single shot during its 24-0 win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Tuesday.

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Contact Matt DaSilva at mdasilva@uslacrosse.org.