The lacrosse team took to the road this weekend, but that did little to slow its winning ways, as Duke travelled to beat No. 11 Georgetown, 14-9. The Blue Devils (6-1) have now won five straight contests since falling 8-6 to Maryland in their second game of the season.
"[Maryland] was our poorest performance of the year," head coach Mike Pressler said. "We lost the game in the fourth quarter, and we didn't keep our head in the game. Since then we've done a better job taking care of the ball and have done what we need to offensively."
"The Maryland game really woke us up," freshman John Fay said. "It showed us what we have to do, and we have started to do those things."
For the first half of the Georgetown game, the Blue Devils were able to move the ball where they wanted to, but couldn't covert their chances into goals, as they had only a 5-4 lead at halftime. The third quarter, however, was more typical of a Duke performance, as the Blue Devils rattled off seven-straight goals after trading scores to begin the half. After all the dust had settled, Duke led 13-5 and coasted to a 14-9 win.
"The key was the special offensive formation we designed for the defensive package they put up against us," Pressler said. "We dodged their double team by coming from behind the net. We had some great chances going through Scott Harrison, who ended up with four assists. Also, Steve Finnell had the best game of his career."
Finnell led the team with four goals and an assist, while James Heavey had three goals, and Jim Gonnella added two goals and a pair of assists.
Alex Whitten, Ross Mos-catelli, Ross Thomson, Harrison and Fay also got in on the action with one goal apiece.
The second-half rally prevented the Hoyas from hanging around like some Duke opponents have done in the past. Last year, Georgetown pushed Duke into overtime before the Blue Devils escaped with an 11-10 win. This year, Georgetown was well out of the game before it scored four goals in the final seven minutes to make the score look respectable. However, this did little to diminish Duke's domination of the game.
"We played a full 60 minutes," Fay said. "The defense played hard, and the attack really stepped up when we need them. We definitely didn't take them for granted."
The main reason Georgetown was able to run off its late string of goals was an injury to Moscatelli. Without Moscatelli in the lineup, Duke was forced to play some of its other players for longer periods of time, leading to some fatigue late in the game.
"We went through about five middies after [Moscatelli] went down," midfielder Matt Ogelsby said. "That was the reason Georgetown scored so much. Gonnella, myself and others were getting really tired in the third and fourth quarters."
Besides hoping to pick up a victory, the Blue Devils were looking to use Saturday's game to show that they are worthy of their No. 7 national ranking and advance even higher in the poll.
"We're in the first 10 in the nation, and they are in the second 10," Pressler said. "Our goal was to keep them on the outside looking in."
To continue their rise in the rankings, the Blue Devils will have to keep playing stellar defense. Goalie Joe Kirmser made 19 saves against Georgetown, and it was the seventh time in as many games this season that Duke held its opponent to single digits in goal scoring.
"We want to play a team defense, and we're starting to do that," Ogelsby said. "In the beginning, our short-sticks were a separate entity, and our long-sticks were another entity. We're bringing those together, and that's been contributing to our success."
Continuing this defensive trend against an upcoming schedule that includes the likes of North Carolina, Hobart and Virginia will be necessary if the Blue Devils hope to keep their winning streak alive.
"The kids wanted to play as many top teams in as many weeks as possible," Pressler said. "These five games are the meat of our season. We've got one, and now we want UNC."
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