Duke Men's Lacrosse 2009-10

Duke Men's Lacrosse 2009-10; Captains,Schedule Announced
Topic Started: Oct 29 2009, 11:24 PM (122 Views)
sceptical	Oct 29 2009, 11:24 PM Post #1
Posts: 1,076 Group: Tier1 Member #264 Joined: Apr 30, 2008	Men's Lacrosse Selects Captains for 2010 Season 10/29/2009 - Duke Sports Information http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204823519 DURHAM, N.C.-Duke University men's lacrosse head coach has announced the appointment of Ned Crotty, Sam Payton, Max Quinzani and Parker McKee as team captains for the 2010 season. The quartet of veterans will lead the Blue Devils in their quest for a fourth straight ACC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Crotty and Payton both served as captains in 2009, while Quinzani and McKee also earned their teammates recognition for their leadership skills. The captains are decided solely on a team vote. http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=25937&SPID=2027&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204821942 Men's Lacrosse - 2009-10 Schedules Date Opponent Location Time (EST) Results Media Sun, Jan 31 U.S. National Team (exhibition) at Orlando, Fla. 1:00 p.m. Sat, Feb 06 Ohio State (exhibition) Durham, N.C. 10:00 AM Sat, Feb 06 Robert Morris (exhibition) Durham, N.C. 12:00 PM Sat, Feb 13 Bucknell at Atlanta, Ga. TBA Sat, Feb 20 Notre Dame Durham, N.C. 1:00 PM Sat, Feb 27 Pennsylvania Durham, N.C. 1:00 PM 2010 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic Sat, Mar 06 Maryland * at Baltimore, Md. 11:00 AM ESPNU Wed, Mar 10 North Carolina * Durham, N.C. 7:00 PM ESPNU Sat, Mar 13 Loyola at Baltimore, Md. TBA Sat, Mar 20 Penn State Durham, N.C. 1:00 PM Tue, Mar 23 Dartmouth Durham, N.C. 7:00 PM Sat, Mar 27 Georgetown at Washington, D.C. 12:00 PM ESPNU Tue, Mar 30 Brown Durham, N.C. 3:00 PM Sat, Apr 03 Harvard at Boston, Mass. 7:00 PM Sun, Apr 04 Jacksonville Durham, N.C. 3:00 PM Fri, Apr 09 Presbyterian Durham, N.C. 7:00 PM Sat, Apr 17 Virginia * at Charlottesville, Va. 8:30 PM ESPNU ACC Tournament Fri, Apr 23 Semifinals at College Park, Md. TBA Sun, Apr 25 Finals at College Park, Md. 3:30 PM Sun, May 09 Sacred Heart Durham, N.C. 2:00 PM Edited by sceptical, Oct 29 2009, 11:24 PM.



sceptical	Oct 30 2009, 06:22 PM Post #2
Posts: 1,076 Group: Tier1 Member #264 Joined: Apr 30, 2008	Updated: October 30, 2009, 4:34 PM ET http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=4609207 Experienced Duke returns stronger Blue Devils lacrosse ready to contend for first national By Danielle Bernstein A year ago, Duke entered its fall season surrounded by questions. The biggest: How would the Blue Devils replace two of the best players in their history? The departures of Matt Danowski and Zack Greer left gaping holes at attack, and many prognosticators thought Duke would struggle to a last-place ACC finish. As it turned out, the Blue Devils were just fine. Although Duke did not cruise through the regular season like it did in a one-loss 2008 season, the Blue Devils peaked in time to win their conference and advance to the national semifinals before losing to eventual champion Syracuse. Now, Duke is once again an experienced squad -- and one that seems to have silenced any doubts about whether it belongs among the elite Division I programs. Fall Focus The Blue Devils concluded their fall season Oct. 24 with their final Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage. With a more experienced team, Duke's fall had a much different feel than it did last year, when several players were learning new positions. Rather than spending time adjusting to new roles and developing chemistry, the team was able to jump right into more advanced aspects of its game. "To be able to come in knowing who's playing what and already having the chemistry from last year going to this year is definitely a confidence booster," midfielder-turned-attackman Ned Crotty said. "We have a lot of guys with experience coming back who played together last year, so having that experience and that chemistry already built helps to make this fall much smoother than last fall." That could pay dividends in the spring. A second consecutive slow start seems unlikely, as the team should not have to suffer another two-loss February while it tries to develop chemistry. Fresh Faces Despite the Blue Devils' overall experience, they could get some significant contributions from freshmen this season. Josh Offit has practiced with the first-team attack and could be in line to start over junior Zach Howell, and fellow freshman Dan Wigrizer may challenge for the starting goaltender position left vacant by the graduation of Rob Schroeder. Duke's freshman class also includes top-100 recruits David Lawson, the eighth-ranked player in his year, No. 27 Jake Tripucka, No. 41 Bill Conners and No. 84 Greg DeLuca. Eddie Loftus becomes the third Loftus brother to suit up for head coach John Danowski, and Henry Meyer, Jimmy O'Neill and Spencer Peterson will add depth for the Blue Devils. "They're all big, they're all strong, they're all fast," Crotty said. "Coming from high school to college, obviously that's a big jump. But within a couple weeks, there were guys who started stepping up. We've got a lot of guys at a lot of different positions who are making a fight for playing time, and anytime you have that, where you have freshmen coming in and making that kind of impact that quickly, it's definitely a good sign." Lingering Questions Who will step in for Ryan McFadyen? The 6-foot-7 McFadyen had been a staple of the Duke defense for years before graduating in 2009. He was selected by the Colorado Mammoth in the NLL Entry Draft, and now his former team must find a way to replace his production. At this point, junior Tom Montelli appears to be the most likely candidate to fill in on the back line. How potent will the offense be? Prior to the start of the 2009 season, just one of the Blue Devils' three attackmen -- Max Quinzani -- had gotten regular minutes at that position in collegiate action. The choices for the other two spots were not finalized until the spring, and as a result, it took a while for Quinzani, Howell and Crotty to jell. Howell and Crotty agreed that the offense did not truly start to click until a March 28 win over Dartmouth. Starting with that contest, Duke put up double-digit goals in each of its remaining games until the 10-goal loss to the Orange in the national semifinals. Expect that level of production -- and not the six-goal outputs characteristic of early losses to Harvard and Cornell -- in 2010. How dangerous is an experienced Ned Crotty? In 2009, Crotty had 78 points, including a Division I-best 55 assists. He was named the USILA Attackman of the Year and earned first team All-America honors. He did all that while playing attack for the first time in his Blue Devils career. Although Crotty had inverted quite a bit as a midfielder, he had to learn the footwork associated with being an attackman. Now, that's not an issue. "Everything runs through you. Not only physically, but mentally it's a different game [than being a midfielder]," Crotty said. "I'm really excited for this year and this fall because I'm getting to focus more on [running the offense and reading defenses] as opposed to last year, when I had to get a crash course on how to play attack and things to do. Now I can focus more on the mental stuff and try to be more of a quarterback out there." That must be a scary thought for opposing defenses. Can Duke get over the hump? The Blue Devils have established themselves as an NCAA tournament regular under Danowski, who has a 50-9 record in three seasons in Durham. But Duke is still searching for that elusive first national championship. In the past five seasons, the Blue Devils have fallen twice in the title game and twice in the semifinals. Is this the year that everything comes together in May?



sceptical	Nov 24 2009, 10:36 PM Post #3
Posts: 1,076 Group: Tier1 Member #264 Joined: Apr 30, 2008	http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204839507 Men's Lacrosse Tabbed No. 1 in Face-Off Yearbook 11/24/2009 - Duke Sports Information DURHAM, N.C.-The Duke University men's lacrosse team will open the 2010 season as the top-ranked team in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Top 25. The Blue Devils edged two-time defending champion Syracuse for the top spot. Duke is tabbed third in the coaches' poll for the Face-Off Yearbook. Duke captured its third consecutive ACC Championship in 2009 and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals for the third straight year. The Blue Devils welcome back a wealth of talent, including the top four scorers from the offense that averaged 11.74 goals per game. Defensively, the Blue Devils return mostly intact with two of the three close defenders coming back in 2010. Duke allowed just 8.42 goals per game in 2009. Led by head coach John Danowski in his fourth season, Duke will officially open the season on Feb. 13 against Bucknell in Atlanta, Ga. The Blue Devils will play three scrimmages against the U.S. National Team (Jan. 31), Ohio State (Feb. 6) and Robert Morris (Feb. 6). The meeting with the U.S. National Team will be in Orlando, Fla., while the remaining two games will be in Durham.



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