For the eighth-ranked lacrosse team, spring break was anything but a break. Duke faced three opponents in eight days and came away with three big wins.
Last Saturday, the Blue Devils (5-1) set the tone for the week by defeating ninth-ranked Brown, 10-7. Tuesday brought on an offensive explosion as they then scorched Colgate for 19 goals in a 19-5 victory. And finally on Saturday, Duke capped off its spring break schedule with a hard-fought 11-9 win over eleventh-ranked Navy. All of the games were played at the Duke Lacrosse Stadium.
"The Brown and Navy games were two big wins for us," head coach Mike Pressler said. "Brown was in the Final Four last year and both they and Navy are in the top 12 now. These two wins should give us lots of momentum."
Against Brown, the Blue Devils were led by a well-balanced scoring attack. Seven Duke players scored, led by senior captains Steve Finnell, Ross Moscatelli and Scott Harrison with two each. Junior goalie Joe Kirmser stopped 15 Brown shots to lead the strong Duke defense, which gave up only one goal in the fourth quarter of each of the three games.
"Joe played great in the Brown game," Pressler said. "We haven't given up ten goals in any of our six games this season. The defense has played well, and Joe has bailed us out when we needed him."
On Tuesday, the Blue Devils dominated an overmatched Colgate team from the start. Moscatelli scored six goals, giving him a team-leading 15 goals for the season. He scored Duke's first goal just 52 seconds into the game, and the team didn't look back from there. The Blue Devils went up 11-1 in the second quarter, and were able to clear their bench early.
In the end, 13 different Duke players scored goals. Duke dominated all aspects of the game, winning 20 out of 26 faceoffs and 49 out of 70 ground balls.
"In the Colgate game, everyone got a chance to play, which was good," Pressler said. "They didn't challenge us as much as we expected them to. A lot of our guys were able to get their first career goals against Colgate."
In their win over Navy, the Blue Devils were led by senior midfielder Matt Ogelsby's six goals. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early four-goal lead in the first half, only to have the Midshipmen mount a comeback and close within one at halftime, 6-5. Duke went into the fourth quarter up one, and held on in the closing minutes for the final 11-9 margin.
Sophomore Alex Whitten contributed two goals for the Blue Devils, while Harrison added two goals and three assists. Kirmser helped slow down the Midshipmen with 23 saves on the day.
"Ogelsby stepped up his play and showed why he is one of the pre-eminent middies in the nation," Pressler said. "The whole team didn't play that well. They played hard, but blew a lead early. However, Matt played a very good all-around game and carried us to the win."
After their hectic week, the Blue Devils have a week's rest until their next game on Saturday at Georgetown. This will be a very big game for both teams, and the Blue Devils are anticipating a major test from the Hoyas.
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