Duke men's lacrosse holds off Lehigh comeback bid

After a complete performance in their season opener Friday against High Point, the Blue Devils impressed again Sunday before needing to hold off a late rally in the closing quarter.

No. 3 Duke fought to a 13-11 victory against Lehigh at Koskinen Stadium, with senior Case Matheis and junior Jack Bruckner once again leading the way. The duo combined for four goals and two assists, racking up 14 points during the weekend as an exhausted Duke team finished its second game in three days.

“I think [we’re] a little beat up now, two games in three days,” Duke assistant coach Matt Danowski said. “I don’t think we finished the way we wanted to, so I don’t think we’re as happy as we would be in a normal 2-0 team, but [we’ll] be prepared and ready to go again on Tuesday.”

After taking a strong six-goal lead into halftime, the Blue Devils (2-0) were outscored 8-4 in the second half and gave up three goals in 70 seconds to end the game. Plagued by 18 turnovers—including six in the fourth quarter—Duke allowed Lehigh to creep back into the game. Freshman Tristan Rai scored four goals to lead the late Mountain Hawk charge.

For much of the game, though, not all was bad, as Duke rode outstanding play by faceoff midfielder Kyle Rowe and a great two-way effort by Bruckner to victory. Rowe posted a dominant 18-of-27 performance from the faceoff X and turned a faceoff into an uncontested fast break and his first goal of the season. Bruckner led the team in caused turnovers from the attack position, including a strip of Lehigh goalkeeper Adam Sawicki on the ride. Bruckner quickly turned the ground ball into a cross-field outlet pass to Matheis, who just dropped the ball into the empty net for one of his three goals.

“We’ve practiced a lot on the ride and the clear,” Danowski said. “For the past two weeks especially, our poles’ stick skills have gotten so much better from last year and ride-wise, Jack Bruckner [was] the blood and guts of the attack. They followed his lead in the way he just plays as hard as he can for 60 minutes. [His] three caused turnovers on the ride is something we’ve worked on because he leads the charge on that."

Senior Myles Jones—the top pick in January's Major League Lacrosse draft— was noticeably quiet against the Mountain Hawks (1-1), with just a single goal on five shots, a turnover and a slashing penalty to show for the game. The Huntington, N.Y., native did put in a strong effort on both ends of the field as Jones stayed on as a defensive midfielder for much of the game.

With Jones silenced, some new contributors added their names to the scoresheet as freshman Brad Smith scored Duke’s final goal of the first half, rolling around from behind the goal to the top of the crease and unloading a sidearm shot into the bottom right corner of the cage. Sophomore defenseman Greg Pelton scored arguably the most impressive goal of the day, running the length of the field on the clear after a pass from goalkeeper Danny Fowler and ripping a shot from outside 15 yards without giving the defense the chance to slide.  Fowler performed well under fire as Lehigh outshot Duke 44-36, making 14 saves and finding easy outlet passes to midfield.

“It’s tough to play two games on a weekend. A lot of young guys who have never played before don’t really know what that atmosphere is like, but we have the depth," Jones said. "The second midfield line didn’t play as much in the second half, but [head coach John Danowski] made them play so that they have the experience, and what they got [this weekend] is going to be huge for them.... It’s great that anyone’s prepared to step on the field at any time.”

After warming up at home this weekend with a pair of wins, Duke heads out on the road for a stiff early-season test Saturday against defending national champion No. 1 Denver in the Cobb County Classic in Kennesaw, Ga.