Duke men's lacrosse rallies vs. Towson before shutting down Cleveland State for 2 wins

With just more than 12 minutes to play in Saturday's afternoon's matchup with Towson, the Blue Devils found themselves in an unfamiliar spot.

Duke was staring down an 8-7 deficit—and after falling behind in just two prior fourth quarters all season, it was in danger of a second stunner away from Durham. But with one final surge and five critical saves, the Blue Devils emerged victorious on their way to a perfect weekend.

Thanks to three tallies in less than six minutes, with the go-ahead score coming from none other than senior Justin Guterding, No. 3 Duke edged out the Tigers 10-8 at Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Blue Devils then hustled to the airport and ventured to Cleveland for a Sunday battle with Cleveland State at Krenzler Field in Northeast Ohio.

And just as it did last spring in North Carolina, Duke cruised past the Vikings for a comfortable 9-3 win Sunday afternoon to stretch the Blue Devils' winning streak to four with ACC play set to begin in less than a week.

"I think it was great," Duke head coach John Danowski told LaxSportsNetwork following the victory in Cleveland. "We spent a lot of time together, we spent a lot of time on the road... but I still think we have a long way to go.... While we are 8-1, it doesn't feel right." 

The Blue Devils (8-1) battled back against the Tigers on the road after dominating the first half before faltering in the third quarter. Duke endured a nearly 23-minute scoring drought against Towson (3-4), bookended by Tiger captain Jon Mazza's pair of goals. Junior Sean Lowrie stopped the bleeding around the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter before Guterding made a spectacular individual play to retake the lead. 

Freshman phenom Joe Robertson then sealed the victory with his goal 21 seconds later, as Brian Smyth won the face-off and hit Robertson right on the crease, where the Charlottesville, Va., native had an easy dunk on goal. 

Towson, fresh off an upset win against last year's national runner-up Ohio State, implemented a zone defense in the second half that Duke could not solve until late, and the toll of playing two games in two days was visible in the Blue Devil offense in the early going against Cleveland State. 

Through it all, however, the defense dominated. Duke forced seven of the Tigers' 17 total turnovers and—averaging just a shade above seven goals allowed per game—managed the Towson attack despite its own offense's scoreless stretches. The rope unit excelled even more against the Vikings, causing 15 of 21 total turnovers and shutting Cleveland State out for the entire second half of the game. 

The Vikings (2-7) made things competitive in the early going, capitalizing on their opponent's fatigue. Although Brad Smith, Peter Conley and Guterding had scored three goals in just more than two minutes at the beginning of the first quarter, the hosts did not flinch. Freshman attackman Michael Wilson fearlessly attacked the cage with a sidearm ripper off a spin move, and then dunked on the net when a rebounded shot found its way into his stick. 

Although Conley stemmed the tide with a man-up goal, Cleveland State would counter with a quick shot as five seconds remained on the clock before the half, to go into the break down by just one. 

The Blue Devil offense would rebounded in the second half against the Vikings, almost entirely due to the heroics of Guterding. The senior captain scored three of the four goals for his side, and assisted on the one tally he did not finish himself. The Garden City, N.Y., native finished off the game with his fifth goal of the afternoon with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. 

"We know our go-to guys, and when the team is struggling a little bit, guys need to step up and make plays," Guterding told LaxSportsNetwork following Sunday's win. "It comes down to that. I wanted to play with the senior midfield that works so hard during the week.... We've got a lot of work to do and that's the message coming out of this weekend."

Duke will have to work through those shortcomings quickly as it welcomes No. 12 Syracuse to Koskinen Stadium Sunday at 1 p.m. 

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