Midway into the second quarter of its opening game of the 2004 season, the men's lacrosse team proved just how deadly its transition game could be.
With the Blue Devils already leading 6-2, freshman Nick O'Hara halted the UMBC rush by deftly plucking an errant pass in the middle of the field. O'Hara quickly fired an outlet pass to the left wing, where defender John Wendling proceeded to relay the ball to freshman Matt Danowski at the top of the attack area.
In turn, Danowski quickly spotted Ed Douglas streaking unchecked through the heart of the UMBC defense. The walk-on sophomore received the pass from the point and promptly rippled the net at point-blank range, extending the Duke lead to five.
The whole sequence of events unfolded instantaneously, and the ball never remained in one stick for more than a second.
This fast-paced, vertical style of play ruled the first half and enabled the Blue Devils to open up a 9-3 halftime lead. Although the second half featured a significantly slower pace and a much more potent UMBC offense, the No. 9 Blue Devils (1-0) were able to hold on to a 11-8 victory Saturday at home against the No. 19 Retrievers (0-1).
"We have a hell of a transition game, and I'm very proud of it," head coach Mike Pressler said. "Our vertical game has been our M.O. from the very beginning, and we're going to continue it."
Danowski led the offensive charge in the first half, pacing his team with four goals and a pair of assists in his first game as a Blue Devil.
"It's good to come out fast and come out of the gates hard," Danowski said. "That's our game. We don't like to slow the game like UMBC does."
Indeed, the slow pace the Retrievers dictated in the second half proved to be very troublesome for Duke. The Blue Devils were outscored 5-2 in the final two quarters.
"We kind of had a lull in the second half," senior co-captain Chris Haunss said. "[UMBC] held the ball and had a little more possession time, and we got a little antsy towards the end.... We wound up forcing a lot of stuff on offense."
In the end, however, the Blue Devil defense held fast, and shut down UMBC for the final 10 minutes of the game.
"We showed defensively how persistent we are and showed our depth defensive-wise," Haunss said. "They fought back hard in the second half, and thankfully we were able to hold them off."
The Blue Devils will continue their season Tuesday at home against VMI, and will then host their first ACC contest of the season Saturday against Maryland.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.