After dispatching their first three opponents this season by an average margin of nearly 12 goals per game, the undefeated Blue Devils will face a stiffer test Friday in a much-anticipated top-five matchup.
Top-ranked Duke and No. 4 Denver will meet at 5 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium for the eighth year in a row, as the Blue Devils look to knock off the Pioneers for the first time since beating them twice in 2014, including in that year’s NCAA tournament. Incidentally, this is also the first time Duke has been ranked No. 1 in the nation since 2014.
Through three games, the Blue Devils have been paced by senior standout attackman Justin Guterding, who has contributed four goals per game—good for seventh in the nation—to a strong Duke offense averaging more than 18 goals per contest. The balanced attack has been just one of many strengths so far for the Blue Devils, who will face their first real challenge against Denver.
“Offensively, it’s going to be about being selfless. We call it hitting singles. Make the easy pass, don’t try to hit the home run and try to hit singles,” Duke head coach John Danowski said. “And defensively, we need to play together. The will to win has got to be greater than the desire to make individual plays.”
Although it takes more than one specialist to make a great team, there is no denying that the best player on the Pioneers’ roster is its superb faceoff man, Trevor Baptiste. Baptiste, considered to be one of the best faceoff men of all time, ranks third all-time in the NCAA for faceoffs won, and has a career faceoff win percentage of .702. In 2017, Baptiste was the first faceoff specialist ever to be named as a finalist for the Tewaraaton Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding player.
Facing off against Baptiste at the X will be Duke sophomore Brian Smyth, replacing the Blue Devils’ standout specialist from last season, Kyle Rowe. Smyth has won just 30 of 62 faceoff opportunities this year—a far cry from Rowe’s .583 win percentage in 2017. Last season, however, even Rowe was no match for Baptiste, who won 17 of 25 faceoffs in Denver’s 14-9 victory.
Despite surrendering more faceoff opportunities than it has won so far this season, Duke (3-0) has done a good job containing its opponents’ attack coming out of the faceoff, a positive trend that must continue for the Blue Devils to win Friday.
“I wish there was something we could do coaching that could stop [Baptiste]. The hope is your draw guys are going to be pretty good as well, [that] they’re going to be pretty quick to the whistle. But if we’re not, we want to make sure that we don’t give up any goals in the faceoff game,” Danowski said. “If we can, [we want to] turn it into a scrap. If we can not let him pick it up in the first two seconds and let our wings get involved, that would be ideal. We like the way our wings are scrapping when the balls on the ground, and so [giving] them an opportunity to make a play [is] the plan.”
Beyond the faceoff, there are few teams in the country that can match up well with Duke on offense, defense and between the posts. Guterding may be the most recognizable name on the roster, but he is far from the only star player for a Blue Devil team that returns nearly all of its starters from a year ago.
Flanking Guterding on attack are sophomore Joey Manown and freshman Joe Robertson, who recorded eight points in Duke’s blowout win against Jacksonville and ranks fifth among all rookies in the NCAA with 4.7 goals per game.
Manown is one of six returning sophomores who combined to start more games last year than any group of rookies under Danowski since 2011—so far, this group is parlaying that extensive experience in their freshman campaign into noticeable results on the field this year. Manown, Sean Lowrie, Kevin Quigley and Reilly Walsh have combined for 21 points so far, and defenseman JT Giles-Harris was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week for his strong defensive performance alongside Terry Lindsay, the final member of the group of six experienced sophomores.
“It’s really helpful that we’ve had guys play together for over a year now. Last year, we had two freshmen starting midfielders, a starting freshman attackman, so it was difficult getting to know these guys,” Guterding said. “But now we’ve been playing for over a year, [and] it’s definitely been helpful getting to play with these guys and gain chemistry.”
The Pioneers (1-0) are coming off an 11-5 win against No. 17 Air Force, a team the Blue Devils beat 18-4 in their season opener. Although they lack the offensive firepower Duke possesses, Denver has a strong defense that is anchored by goalie Alex Ready, who made nine saves on 14 shots against the Falcons. Dylan Gaines, a junior from Baltimore, Md., had a breakout game against Air Force and will look to continue that into Friday’s matchup against some of the top scorers in the country in Durham.
“It’s going to be a way different challenge [against Denver]. We’re going to have probably [fewer] possessions, so we’re going to have to play better in the box offensively,” Guterding said. “We’ve been getting out and running, scoring a ton in transition, so we have to be smart in those transition opportunities. We’ll be able to gauge how we are as a team against a top-five team, some of the best in the country.”
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