Crotty's 6 points lift Duke to win in opener

No Matt Danowski or Zack Greer? No problem-at least now.

In their first game without last year's team's superstars, the No. 6 Blue Devils topped No. 20 Bucknell 11-7 Saturday in Koskinen Stadium. Senior Ned Crotty, whose play was overshadowed by Danowski and Greer the last two seasons, led Duke with six points on one goal and five assists, while three more players chipped in at least three points of their own.

Senior Steve Schoeffel had three goals, and senior Brad Ross added two goals and two assists. Junior Max Quinzani, the second-leading goal scorer on last year's team, posted two goals and contributed one assist.

But it was Crotty at the center of everything Saturday. Playing attack instead of midfield, Crotty fed Schoeffel with the first score of the game, and minutes later, the Blue Devils (1-0) were up 3-0.

"We don't know how [Crotty] is necessarily going to be [on attack], because that was his first Division-I game playing attack," head coach John Danowski said. "We think what he could become, but we don't know what he could become. If he does play like he played today, I would be delighted. But we don't try to put pressure on any one individual, we try to play together as a team."

After the Bison (0-1) cut the lead to 3-2, sophomore Justin Turri took a pass from Crotty to make it 4-2, and Quinzani and Ross posted scores to increase the lead to 6-2 at halftime.

Bucknell sliced the deficit to 6-4, and after heading into the fourth quarter up 8-6, Duke scored and killed a three-minute penalty to cement its advantage.

"Whenever you kill a penalty, whether it is a 30-second or a three-minute, it's a huge confidence boost for the whole team," junior defender Parker McKee said. "And when you do two of them for three minutes each, that's awesome."