When the men’s lacrosse team emerged from the locker room to begin their season opener, Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” blared from the Koskinen Stadium speakers.
Not the traditional, head-banging, adrenaline-pumping, jock jam usually associated with pre-game warm ups, the song served as an introduction to the fast-paced style of play head coach Mike Pressler expects from his players this season.
Saturday afternoon saw two different Duke teams—a high-energy squad that used its “Born to Run” offense to jump out to an 8-2 halftime lead, and a slow, stalling team that sat on the ball long enough to give the No. 13 Blue Devils (1-0) a 12-8 victory over Butler (0-1).
“I was disappointed we didn’t put them away in the second half,” Pressler said. “They played great tempo and credit goes to them. That said, I don’t think the game was in doubt, just the margin.”
Freshman Zack Greer propelled the Duke offense in the first half with three of his team-high four goals in the opening 30 minutes. Greer’s most spectacular play came in the opening moments of the second quarter, when he flicked the ball behind his back while running across the face of the goal mouth and gave Duke a 5-1 lead.
Greer was assisted twice by attackman Matt Danowski, Duke’s returning scoring leader. The sophomore added two goals of his own against the Bulldogs.
“Playing with Matt is incredible,” Greer said of the rapidly-forming chemistry between himself and Danowski. “He creates so much space for his teammates. He can feed the ball, he can shoot the ball and he opens up the field for everyone else.”
Midfielder Peter Lamade took advantage of that wide open space. The sophomore scored three goals Saturday, including two long-distance bombs from the outer limits of the attack area.
The Blue Devils aggressively pressured the ball in the first half. Butler failed to clear the ball three times over the course of the second period, and when the Bulldogs did lose possession, Duke was quick to capitalize—the Blue Devils won the ground ball battle 41-to-21, nearly a two-to-one ratio.
“We have athletes from top to bottom,” defender Tony McDevitt said. “I feel that if we can pressure the ball, why not? It gives teams a lot more trouble. It causes them to think every time they throw the ball.”
Duke’s pressure faded in the second half, however, as the Blue Devils dropped back into a more conservative style of play, a strategy that yielded mixed results.
“In the second half we didn’t take care of the ball as well as we should have,” Greer said. “We took some bad shots. We need to take care of the ball a little more next game.”
Freshman Brad Ross kept Duke out in front thanks to his superb play in the faceoff circle. Ross won 13 out of 17 faceoffs and also led the team with 10 ground balls.
“I think the key to the game was Brad Ross facing off,” Pressler said.
The Duke coach was satisfied with the win but refused to give his team too much credit.
“I thought we did a good job,” Pressler said. “I don’t think we played great—we showed a lot of passion and a lot of effort—but, again, it’s Feb. 19. We have never opened this early, ever. For us to expect to come out there and play like a team in March or April or May, that’s a mistake and that’s not going to happen.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.