COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For most of this season, a one-goal lead had been enough for the men's lacrosse team. Heading into Saturday's national semifinal game against Princeton at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md., the Blue Devils were 6-1 in one-goal games, including their 12-11 overtime quarterfinal win against Johns Hopkins. Against the Tigers, however, not even a late two-goal lead was safe for the Blue Devils, as they surrendered a 9-7 lead in falling 10-9 to the eventual champion Tigers.
The Blue Devils (12-4) brought a 9-7 lead into the fourth quarter, and appeared to be riding high. Play went back and forth for most of the final period until senior attackman Ed Fay found himself open in front of the Princeton goal. Fay, who had already scored two goals on the day, was stuffed by goalie Patrick Cairns, preventing the Blue Devils from securing a crucial three-goal lead.
"A huge play in the game was when it was 9-7 and we get one of our classic fast breaks," Duke coach Mike Pressler said. "Eddie Fay comes in one-on-one with Cairns and he shoots the ball low-top-low. The kid was guessing low, and he shot it low. That would have made it 10-7 and kind of blown the game open."
Following the near miss, the Princeton offense, which had been held to only one goal for 44:58, quickly got back on track. Middie Jason Osier gunned a shot home from 10 yards out with 6:28 remaining to cut the deficit to 9-8. The Tigers won the ensuing faceoff and set up on offense once again. Middie Todd Eichelberger drove from the side and put in a shot that just barely got by Duke senior goalie Joe Kirmser to tie the game at nine.
Princeton maintained its momentum, as the Tigers won the faceoff and drove down in front of the Duke cage. Princeton attackman Chris Massey cut behind senior All-conference defenseman Greg Ehrnman and took a wide open feed from Jon Hess to score the game winner with 4:50 left.
"I saw [Massey] out there and I was looking at Hess," Ehrnman said. "I thought he was going to throw the ball and he kept his eyes over where Massey was and Massey started moving. If his head would have moved, I would have had some reaction to look back at Massey. All of a sudden, he was just by me. I got back-doored."
Down one, the Blue Devils were unable to touch the ball for the remainder of the game, as the Tigers played keep-away to perfection. Duke's defensemen chased after the elusive Princeton attackmen, but were unable to get the ball for a final attempt to equalize the game, as the Tigers came away with their 27th straight victory.
"It's frustrating to be running and chasing," senior defenseman Patrick Doyle said. "It's not a good position to be in. But it's something we've practiced before.... They moved the ball around and they made it more frustrating for us."
For most of the first quarter of the contest, losing in the last five minutes was the was the furthest thought from most Duke fans' minds. The Tigers jumped out to an aggressive start, scoring six goals in the first 8:34 to gain a 6-1 lead. Massey scored two during the span, as did middie Lorne Smith.
After the early Princeton scoring barrage, the Blue Devils managed to settle down and contain the Princeton offense, while the Duke offense began to find its own rhythm. With 40 seconds remaining in the quarter, Duke took advantage of a Princeton penalty and scored on a feed from senior Jim Gonnella to Scott Diggs to cut the margin to 6-2.
"We got flat out, nasty mad," Pressler said. "When we play mad, and we get angry on defense, that's when we're at our best. We've got to make it a football game. When we turn the game into a football game, that's when we're at our best. Then you saw us take off from the second quarter on."
With their defense completely stifling the Tigers, the Blue Devils broke loose on offense. Duke scored four straight goals in the second quarter, and had a number of other near misses. Junior John Fay led the Duke attack with two goals in the period. Fay's first goal of the game, scored early in the first quarter, was his 51st of the year, breaking the Duke single-season scoring mark.
Besides the settling of the Duke defense, the other key to Duke's comeback was its transition play. The Blue Devils' final two goals of the half, the first on a pass from defenseman Tyler Hardy to attackman Scott Allen and the second with 38 seconds left on a pass from defenseman David Stilley to Diggs, both came when the they quickly ran the ball up the field against the Tiger defense.
"Tyler Hardy and Joe Kirmser get the ball out well," Cairns said. "We haven't really played against a team this year that relies on their transition as much as Duke."
Princeton managed to bounce back from its sub-par second quarter at the start of the second half with a quick man-up goal on a pass from Massey to Hess to gain a 7-6 lead. For the next ten minutes, both teams alternated long possessions, and Cairns and Kirmser came up with clutch saves to keep the game close.
The Duke offense regained its second quarter form on a goal with 3:05 left in the third on a pass from middie Jared Frood to Ed Fay that threaded the needle across the face of the goal.
Middie John O'Donnell rifled a shot over Cairns' shoulder 1:12 later, then Ed Fay scored on a pass from his brother John with two seconds left in the quarter to close out the Duke scoring.
The loss marked the end of a historic season for the Blue Devils. The trip to the Final Four was the furthest a Duke team had ever advanced, and the team's 12 victories tied a school record. The 13-member senior class will go down as the winningest class in Duke lacrosse history, finishing with a 40-20 record.
"The saddest thing to me is that I can stomach losing to Princeton, but the fact that I can't coach those 13 guys again," Pressler said. "This group, I get very emotional when I think about them because we've kind of grown together.... It's going to be tough saying goodbye to these guys."
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