The independent news organization of Duke University
The lights of Koskinen Stadium burned bright for the first time since November as No. 3 Duke opened its season against Robert Morris with a resounding 21-12 victory.
Bring on a new year, and the Blue Devils once again scored the nation’s number one recruit, held onto the much of last year’s spine and locked down some of its seniors and graduate students to an extra year of NCAA eligibility.
Coming in at No. 9: Duke men's lacrosse compiles a team of All-Americans to go to the NCAA Tournament, making it all the way to the Final Four before being knocked out.
At this point, it's almost funny.
Some familiar faces are set to return to Koskinen Stadium next spring.
Another year, and another top recruit for John Danowski's program.
John Danowski said it in the press conference heading into Championship Weekend. “If you ask me any one intangible that you want to have above everything, just give me great team chemistry. And that takes a while to develop.”
The so-called "potential superteam" never seemed unbeatable throughout the year and was more than susceptible to losing in a Final Four that included all four of the tournament's top seeds. But when the Blue Devils boast the defensive player of the year, a Tewaaraton finalist, eight total All-Americans and the winningest coach in Division I history, it was always championship or bust for Duke, who looked anything but super in the semifinals.
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.
For the first 10 minutes, it looked like Duke was going to blow past undefeated Northwestern. But lacrosse is a game of runs, and the Blue Devils found themselves on the wrong side of one.
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.
When the final buzzer sounds, it doesn’t matter who had the momentum—all that matters are the numbers on the scoreboard. And for Duke, it was basic math: 13 is greater than 12.
“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.”
In their first NCAA tournament game since 2016, the Blue Devils left no doubt in anyone’s mind as to why they came in as the No. 7 seed.