Slip sliding away is probably the best way to describe the conditions of the lacrosse team's 11-10 overtime victory against Georgetown Sunday. Hours of rain fell throughout the morning made the field at the Duke Lacrosse Stadium comparable to a swamp. Players from both teams had trouble making cuts towards the goal as the ground seemed to slide from underneath them.
At the same time, Duke's players felt their season slowly sliding from underneath them as Georgetown used a tough transition game to take a 6-3 halftime lead.
After halftime, though, the sun broke through the clouds just as the Duke players began to shine. The Blue Devils tied up the score at 10 with 1:48 left in regulation on a shot by junior Ross Moscatelli. This was enough to force it into sudden-death overtime when Scott Harrison scored to settle the outcome. The win upped Duke's record to 6-2 while Georgetown dropped its first game of the season and fell to 4-1.
Duke' victory included two impressive comebacks. One from the halftime deficit and the other from a 23-9 plastering administered by North Carolina last Wednesday night.
"The biggest thing for us was to come back after 23-9 on Wednesday," Duke head coach Mike Pressler said. "I give my guys the credit, the seniors, we needed this game. After that game our backs were against the wall."
Not only did Duke have the shadows of the UNC game hovering over them, but as the game went into sudden death the Blue Devils could not help but recall their other overtime game this season, a 13-12 loss to Maryland.
Duke came close to dropping the game as Georgetown controlled the first face-off in overtime and began its attack. After the Hoyas fed a pass to the front of the goal, the ball was dropped and both teams fought for possession.
Right after the ball became hidden from view, it shot out towards the Duke net and bounced off the goalpost. Duke counted its blessings, and before the Hoyas could get another chance, the Blue Devils had worked the ball upfield for the win.
"In overtime there is always a sense of urgency," said senior Ken Fasanaro who scored three goals Sunday. "You don't get second chances, especially in a game like this."
Duke received one second chance in the form of the second half, and that was all the Blue Devil defense needed to turn the game around. Most of Duke's second-half goals came on transitions after the defense made a stop. The biggest stop was made by junior Matt Ogelsby as time was running out.
The Georgetown attackers had been powering through Duke's defense all day, but with two-and-a-half minutes left Ogelsby laid out an oncoming attacker which sent a round of ooohs and aaahs through the crowd. Instead of admiring his handiwork, Ogelsby received the ball at midfield and charged down the field to make the pass to an open Moscatelli for the tying goal.
"I'm not really known for my defense," said Ogelsby. "Anything I say is going to sound corny but I tried to zero in on his numbers and I got lucky."
Luck was not the only thing that helped Duke to victory Sunday. Besides Fasanaro's hat trick, senior Mike Clayton also scored three goals and Ogelsby added two.
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