If the ability to come through in the clutch is the test of a great team, the men's lacrosse team passed with flying colors.
The fifth-ranked Blue Devils (6-1) edged No. 8 Georgetown 8-7 on Sunday after pulling off a 7-6 win over 14th-ranked Navy (4-2) on Mar. 18 and destroying Canisius, 22-2, on Wednesday to go undefeated during spring break.
Sophomore Jared Frood, moving back from the attack to midfield, scored the game-winning goal against the Hoyas (3-2) with 5:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, breaking a 7-7 deadlock.
"In the fourth quarter coach switched me to midfield, so I got a short stick on me, and that's what we were going with the whole fourth quarter," Frood said. "I was just taking the short stick behind and waiting for the double [team]. The double came, but he came to my back side. I just rolled to my left and took a shot over his right shoulder."
Duke came out rolling, ending the first quarter with a 4-2 lead behind two goals from senior John Fay. The two-goal lead the Blue Devils enjoyed at the end of the first quarter was the largest lead either team had throughout the entire game.
The tide turned in the second quarter as Georgetown held Duke to one goal in the frame. The Hoyas' zone defense stymied the Blue Devils, as they were double-teamed on the inside and struggled to hit any outside shots.
"We weren't shooting smart," Frood said. "They went to a zone; that gave us a little bit of trouble. We weren't patient. I think after the first quarter, the zone killed us. We'd practiced against it. We didn't see it on their film, though. We didn't expect it at all."
Meanwhile, Greg McCavera did for Georgetown what no one seemed able to do for Duke, slicing through the Blue Devil defense to rack up four unanswered goals in the second quarter and singlehandedly putting the Hoyas up 6-5 at halftime.
"He's easily one of the best attackmen we'll see all year," Duke coach Mike Pressler said of McCavera.
The third quarter saw some adjustments in Duke's defense, as sophomore Stephen Card was assigned to defend McCavera. Card held McCavera scoreless in the second half. Georgetown's only goal in the second stanza came from Andy Flick with 57 seconds left in the third quarter.
"We think Stephen Card's a pretty good defenseman," Pressler said. "We made a couple of adjustments. We were quicker to double-team McCavera in the second half, and that was crucial for us."
Fay and sophomore T.J. Durnan led the Blue Devils with three goals apiece on the afternoon, while Frood tallied two goals and one assist.
At Navy last Sunday, the Blue Devils escaped with another one-goal win. Down 5-4 at the end of the third quarter, Fay tied the game up with 8:18 remaining. Durnan then notched two consecutive goals to give Duke the lead. Mike Newton found the back of the net for the Midshipmen with six seconds left in the game, but it wasn't enough to upset the Blue Devils.
Durnan and Fay each collected two goals against Navy, with Fay also picking up an assist. Frood came away with one goal and three assists.
Sandwiched between two close games was a 22-2 blowout over Canisius (0-2). Sophomore Chris Kakel accumulated five goals and one assist, while Fay had two goals and four assists.
Junior Scott Diggs led off the scoring with a goal at 13:37. Kakel, Frood and O'Donnell each notched two goals in the opening period as Duke raced to a 9-0 lead. The Blue Devils outshot the Golden Griffins 67-14, amassing nine more goals in the third quarter behind two sets of back-to-back goals from Kakel and Frood.
Duke next faces Harvard Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Duke Lacrosse Stadium.
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