How was Notre Dame able to hold Duke—the second-ranked offense in the country, with a scoring average of 13.83 goals per game coming into this weekend—to only six goals?
To answer that question, one must look no further than the Irish's goalie, senior Scott Rodgers. Rodgers, a 6-foot-4, 254-pound behemoth, netted an amazing 15 saves Monday, including a game-saving snag on a Zach Howell shot that seemed sure to go in with 1:47 left in regulation. Rodgers was a force in the net the entire game, and his defense rallied behind him.
"[He's] always a nice safety net, and he has been there to support this team and give us confidence all year," Notre Dame defenseman Kevin Ridgway said. "Scott [was] just a huge asset."
During the fourth quarter, Rodgers tallied six saves, including one stretch at the beginning of the period where he saved back-to-back strikes from Justin Turri and Max Quinzani that would have put the Blue Devils ahead by one.
"If I knew the secret I'd be telling people, but I don't," Quinzani said, when asked how to play against Rodgers. "He's a great goalie and really the captain of that defense."
Quinzani and Ned Crotty, Duke's two leading scorers, were held to only one point each Crotty's assist on Duke's opening goal and an assist by Quinzani with 1:24 left in the second quarter to midfielder Steve Schoeffel.
The two senior attackmen—who combined with Howell for 10 points against Virginia—saw increased defensive pressure and few scoring opportunities all afternoon, as the Fighting Irish decided to key in on the front line and leave openings for midfielders like Schoeffel, Turri and, of course, CJ Costabile.
"I felt like I had a lot of space to move around and dodge. That was really helpful," Schoeffel said.
The Irish used a deliberately slow-pace offense to curb the Blue Devils' scoring by limiting their opportunities. And when Duke managed to get shots on goal, Rodgers made some point-blank saves to keep the Blue Devils off the scoreboard.
"We knew, especially on offense, [that] we needed to be mentally tough," Howell said. "It's tough going in knowing you may not have the ball as much as you would like, and we knew we had to be opportunistic against their defense."
In the end, though, the lack of scoring didn't matter for Duke. What mattered most were the final numbers on the scoreboard.
"I'm extremely happy and joyful for our students and anybody who has ever worn a Duke jersey," head coach John Danowski said. "This game was a great battle."
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