Duke lacrosse beats Providence in NCAA tournament opener, 18-3

Posted Saturday, May 12, 2007

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Durham, NC - Top-seeded Duke received five goals from Zack Greer while Matt Danowski dished out a career-high seven assists as the Blue Devils defeated Providence, 18-3, in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils improve to 15-2 overall and advance to the NCAA quarterfinals to meet the winner of Navy-North Carolina next Sunday in Annapolis, Md. The win marked Duke’s 11th at home this year, breaking the previous school single-season record of 10 set by the 2005 club.

The Friars conclude their season at 7-10.

The Blue Devils held a decisive advantage in the shot column, 53-6, while securing 17-of-24 face-offs in the contest.

Duke got on the scoreboard at the 8:02 mark of the opening period when Matt Danowski netted an unassisted goal. The Blue Devils pushed the advantage to two goals when Danowski fed Zack Greer for a tally with 5:37 remaining in the quarter.

The Friars cut the lead in half with a man-down goal at the 2:44 mark when Devin McBride beat a diving Dan Loftus for a score. Duke claimed a 4-1 lead after one period as Brad Ross and Fred Krom each scored in the final two minutes of the quarter.

Ross kicked off the scoring in the second period with a goal from Ned Crotty less than one minute into the quarter. Greer then scored two goals less than two minutes apart midway through the period for a 7-1 lead before Danowski’s unassisted tally with 3:47 remaining increased the margin to seven goals.

Danowski found Greer for a goal with just six seconds before halftime and Duke entered the lockerroom ahead at intermission, 9-1.

Max Quinzani scored just under two minutes into the third quarter on a pass from Danowski. The assist pushed Danowski past former Duke standout Tony Cullen into first place on the school’s all-time chart with 115.

With 11:34 left in the third quarter, the teams were forced to endure a two-hour, one-minute weather delay. Following the break, Duke reeled off four goals in a five-minute stretch to take a 14-1 lead on Gibbs Fogarty’s goal from Danowski at the 5:42 mark. Michael Young and Fogarty added tallies to close the third quarter scoring a give the Blue Devils a 16-1 advantage.

Providence’s Bennett Murphy scored consecutive goals in the final quarter before Duke’s Chris Loftus accounted for the final margin with the last goal of the day.

DUKE NOTES

** Duke improves to 10-10 all-time in NCAA Tournament play

** Duke’s 15 wins this season rank as the second-most in school history, trailing only the 17 victories earned by the 2005 squad

** Duke has now won 10 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Cornell’s 14-game run

** Duke is 26-3 in its last 29 home games

** Duke is now 38-7 over the past three seasons

** Duke finishes the season with an 11-1 record at home, establishing a new school single-season record for home victories … The 2005 squad held the previous mark at 10

** Dan Loftus improved to 23-5 as Duke's starting goalkeeper

** Zack Greer’s five goals push his career total to 130 in 45 games at Duke … The 130 career tallies rank 12th on the ACC’s all-time list and fourth on Duke’s career chart

** Greer now has 56 goals on the season – tops in the nation … The 56 goals rank as the second-highest single-season total in both ACC (tied with Virginia’s Doug Knight) and Duke history, trailing only Greer’s total of 57 set in 2005

** Greer now has 78 total points on the year (56 goals & 22 assists) … That total stands as the ninth-highest single-season total in ACC history and the fourth-best in Duke history

** Greer now has seven games with five or more goals this season

** Matt Danowski handed out a career-high seven assists against Providence … His previous high was five versus Bellarmine on March 31, 2007 … Danowski’s 43 assists this season are the most in the nation

** Danowski became Duke’s all-time leader in assists, pushing his career total to 118 … The previous standard of 114 was held by Tony Cullen … The assist total also ranks ninth on the ACC’s career list

** Danowski now has 241 career points on 123 goals and 118 assists in 58 games … The 241 points are the second-highest total in school history, trailing only Dave Hagler’s 254, and are the fifth-best total in ACC history

** With nine points on the day, Danowski increased his season total to 81 points on 38 goals and 43 assists … The 81 points match the sixth-highest single-season total in ACC history and rank as the third-best single-season total in Duke history … Danowski owns the school mark with 92 total points in 2005 – one shy of the league standard set by Ray Altman of Maryland in 1963

** Danowski has now registered at least one point in 39 consecutive games to match the third-longest active streak in the nation