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Two conference champions, two Tewaaraton Award finalists, a laundry list of All-Americans at both ends and a trip to the NCAA Championship Game on the line. It should’ve been a close game.
Nicknamed "Captain Clutch" for a reason, the senior attackman feeds off the sudden-death energy late in games. Duke has gone into overtime four times this season... and Robertson has won the game with the necessary goal in three of those games.
Whatever the outcome of Saturday’s game, it certainly should be one of the most exciting matchups of the season. But as the Blue Devils make their way to Championship Weekend, the nitty-gritty stats and rankings don’t matter nearly as much as the opportunity to play with one another in the moments they’ve dreamt about since childhood.
The New York native becomes the third Duke player to earn the award, following Tyler Hardy in 1996 and Nick O'Hara in 2008.
Mike Adler wasn’t supposed to be a lacrosse star. He and his brother played baseball as kids. When he was in high school, he wanted to become a professional surfer. Even once he decided to pursue playing college lacrosse, schools told him he wasn't good enough to play at that level. And at 16 years old, he nearly lost his foot in a shark attack.
He did it again. Somehow, someway, he did it again. Mr. Overtime, Broadway Joe, whatever you want to call him. But at this point, Joe Robertson deserves a nickname.
When the men’s lacrosse NCAA tournament bracket was announced May 9, it looked like No. 2-seed Duke was poised for a rematch against No. 7-seed Denver in the quarterfinals. But this is postseason lacrosse, where anything can happen.
The mythical hydra: cut off one head and two more sprout in its place. The same could perhaps be said of Duke men’s lacrosse. Though far from a perfect game, the Blue Devils' first-round win against High Point was a clinic in proficiency at every position.
“This has got a one-goal game written all over it. This is an NCAA playoff game. And these kids for High Point have nothing to lose and are gonna play their best lacrosse of the year on Sunday, for sure.”
Expectations have been high for the star-studded Blue Devils all season long. And while the season has been a fairly successful one, it’s becoming evident that Duke is still trying to find its full potential.
Mulé had yet to step on the field Thursday night. But with the game on the line, his teammates trusted him to make a play. And he delivered.
Giles-Harris is this week’s ACC Defensive Player of the Week as well as a member of the USILA Team of the Week.
Apparently when in overtime, get the ball to Joe Robertson and he’ll come in clutch.
The Blue Devils have found a secret weapon where they least expected it this season, and his name is Jake Naso.
Coming off two miraculous one-goal victories, it was clear that the Blue Devils were beatable, especially going into a matchup against yet another top-five opponent. But few could have predicted the beatdown that occurred Saturday afternoon.
After a back-and-forth grind for 60 minutes filled with highlight-reel goals and clutch saves, the blockbuster matchup went into sudden-death overtime, where it was anyone's game.
Both squads blitzed through their nonconference competition before securing a top-10 win to begin ACC play and swapping the top two spots in the polls, making Thursday's contest a regular-season rivalry matchup of epic proportions.
With just a second on the clock, Duke clinging onto a one-goal lead and Syracuse on the man-up, Orange All-American Stephen Rehfuss launched a rocket at the net.
"Just as a fan of the sport and somebody that's always enjoyed the sport, this is the stage that you dream about playing on. You go to play college lacrosse to play in a game like Duke-Syracuse."
An 11-0 run propelled Duke to its eighth straight win to begin the season.