BALTIMORE — With about 12 minutes to play in the third quarter, Duke trailed by three as it attempted to clear the ball from its defensive zone. Backup goaltender Mike Rock, who replaced ineffective starter Dan Wigrizer in the second period, mishandled a pass from a defenseman and allowed Loyola attacker Mike Sawyer to swoop in for the groundball. Sawyer immediately scored the easiest of his six goals on the day against an empty net.
Rock’s drop was just one of many Blue Devil miscues on Saturday, as No. 12 Loyola blasted No. 9 Duke (3-3) in a game that was not nearly as close as its 13-8 final score indicated.
The Greyhounds (5-0) bested the Blue Devils in nearly every meaningful statistic. For the first time this year, Duke did not collect as many ground balls as its opponent and was dominated in shots, 37-28.
“Loyola just wanted the ball more,“ head coach John Danowski said. “They wanted to beat Duke more than the Duke kids wanted to beat the Loyola guys.“
Loyola jumped out to an early lead, scoring seven times in the first half while Wigrizer recorded one save. Trailing 7-3 with just three minutes left in the second period, Danowski sent in Rock to replace the struggling junior.
“At that point we’re looking for a spark,“ Danowski said. “Danny was just cleared and got back in the middle of the week, and so hadn’t seen a lot of reps…. We thought he deserved the start, but we knew that Loyola was dangerous offensively and were looking for something to change it.“
Duke also lacked a spark on the other end of the field. The Blue Devils have struggled in extra-man opportunities all season long, and stretched their slump to 2-for-23 after missing on four chances against the Greyhounds.
Three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils found themselves in a 13-5 hole, Duke’s largest deficit since their 17-7 loss to Syracuse in the 2009 Final Four. With the game out of reach, the Blue Devils scored three unanswered goals and nearly added another following a clean faceoff win by senior C.J. Costabile.
Ultimately, Danowski believes that the team has yet to achieve its identity and needs to develop to achieve under pressure. While he praised his players’ tenacity and performance in practice, he lamented that the Blue Devils have been unable to put it all together with the game on the line against a top-notch opponent.
“We have terrific athletes, but as Steve Spurrier would say, ‘You’ve gotta be a ballplayer,’” Danowski said. “We need a little bit more ballplayer and little less athlete.”
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