With the opening round of the NCAA tournament looming, Duke hoped to make a final positive impression on the selection committee.
Thanks to a dominant second-quarter spurt, the Blue Devils did just that.
In the two teams’ regular-season finale, No. 10 Duke ran away from Boston University 15-8 Sunday afternoon at Nickerson Field in Boston, using a 5-0 second-quarter run spanning 7:30 to turn an early 2-1 deficit into a commanding 6-2 lead. Senior midfielder Deemer Class led the way for the Blue Devils after a slow start—the two teams combined for just two first-quarter tallies—bouncing back from a scoreless ACC championship game with a five-goal, one-assist effort.
Duke continued its momentum after building a four-goal lead with 5:26 left in the second quarter, going on a 6-1 run to put the game out of reach late by the third period. Three other Blue Devils—attackmen Jack Bruckner and Justin Guterding and freshman midfielder Brad Smith—each notched a pair of goals for Duke, which will open the NCAA tournament Saturday at No. 7 Loyola.
Despite their wide margin of victory, the Blue Devils (11-7) started the game slowly one week after falling to then-No. 7 Syracuse 14-8 in the ACC title game. Boston University (8-7) set the tone in the opening minutes, sending a flurry of shots at Duke goalkeeper Danny Fowler, but the junior made four first-quarter saves to keep the Boston offense at bay.
After a Terrier goal put the hosts ahead 2-1 early in the second quarter, Duke head coach John Danowski called a quick timeout and from that point forward, the nation’s fourth-ranked scoring offense caught fire.
Seven different Duke players registered at least two points on the afternoon—including ACC Offensive Player of the Year Myles Jones, who extended his point streak to 53 games.
It was more than just offense, however, that allowed the Blue Devils to rest their stars toward the end of the game.
Fowler starred in net despite not being challenged much after the first quarter, making six saves on 10 Boston University shots on goal. The Terriers were able to get just four shots past the Wantagh, N.Y., native during his nearly 53 minutes in net Sunday afternoon. Reserve goalie Luke Aaron played the rest of the game for the Blue Devils, but failed to register a save—allowing Boston University to score its remaining four goals.
At the faceoff X, junior Kyle Rowe won 15-of-21 faceoffs and collected 10 ground balls, though he did not have to go up against Terrier starter Sam Talkow, who entered the game with the nation's second-best faceoff percentage but did not play.
Duxbury, Mass., native Ian Yaniulis scored his first career goal for the Blue Devils in what was a homecoming game for the junior defender—one of five Duke players that hail from the state of Massachusetts.
Although the hosts were not able to get much going until late in the game, they were led by attackmen Ryan Hillburn and James Burr, who combined for four goals and five assists. Jack Wilson—the Terriers’ leading scorer—was held in check, scoring just one goal. Even though he allowed 15 goals, goalkeeper Christian Carson-Banister also made 15 saves for Boston University, which dropped its final five games of the season to miss the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year as a Division I program.
The Blue Devils, on the other hand, will open their 10th consecutive NCAA tournament against Loyola, which fell to Duke 15-6 March 13. The matchup was announced during the NCAA tournament selection show Sunday night.
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."