Feb. 14, 2009

Crotty's Six-Point Effort Pushes Duke Past Bucknell
DURHAM, N.C.—Senior Ned Crotty turned in a six-point effort on one goal and five assists to lead the sixth-ranked Blue Devils to an 11-7 win over No. 20 Bucknell in the men’s lacrosse season opener at Koskinen Stadium. Duke had four different players with at least three points on the afternoon.

Duke is now 1-0 on the season, while Bucknell drops its first game to fall to 0-1. The contest marked the second consecutive year the Blue Devils and Bison have met in the season opener.

Steve Schoeffel added three tallies to the Duke cause, while Brad Ross finished with four points from two goals and two assists. Junior Max Quinzani dropped in a pair of scores and handed out one helper to give him three points after one game.

Duke jumped out to a 6-2 halftime lead and held off the Bison in the final 30 minutes for the four-goal victory. Bucknell was led by Joe Mele with five goals, while Austin Winter had a goal and four assists. Duke allowed just four even-man goals in the game.

No. 3 Maryland Take WWP Crown With 15-4 Win Over Air Force
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The game was secondary to the cause it was raising funds for, but the No. 3 University of Maryland men's lacrosse team won the Wounded Warrior Project's "Face Off for a Cause" with a 15-4 victory over Air Force Saturday afternoon at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium.

Junior Will Yeatman paced the Terps with six points on a pair of goals and four assists. In all, eight Terps had multiple-point games, including sophomore Ryan Young, who tallied his first-career hat trick.

The game started well for the Terps, with Young scoring the game's first goal off an assist by Grant Catalino. But Air Force showed its spirit and responded to knot the score at a goal apiece on an unassisted tally by Eric Evans. That's the way the game stayed until the final two minutes of the first quarter. Finally, sophomore midfielder Danny Burns was able to find the back of the net for his first career goal.

Tar Heels Post Highest Offensive Output In Eight Years
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Fifth-ranked North Carolina dominated the ground ball battle and scored on exactly half of its shot attempts as the Tar Heel men's lacrosse team defeated 14th-ranked Denver 20-7 Saturday afternoon before a crowd of 1,243 at Fetzer Field on a sunny day with temperatures in the 60s. Four different Tar Heels had at least three goals and Gavin Petracca and Billy Bitter each had career highs for points in a game as North Carolina scored its most goals in a game since April 26, 2001.

It was a game of runs as North Carolina jumped out to a 6-0 lead with just 10 minutes and five seconds elapsed in the match only to see the resilient Pioneers score five straight goals over a span of only 7:34 to close their deficit to 6-5 with 11:03 left in the first half. The half ended with the Tar Heels ahead 8-6.

Carolina then came out in the second half and ran off 12 straight goals, five in the third quarter and then seven more in the fourth period with Matthias McCall scoring UNC's 20th goal with 4:05 to play on a behind-the-back shot off an assist by Joe Howard. The Pioneers finished the scoring with an unassisted goal by Charley Dickenson with 3:07 left in the match, ending a scoring drought of 32:27 for the UD side.

Virginia Opens Season with 13-7 Win Over Drexel
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Senior Garrett Billings tied his career high with five goals to lead Virginia to a 13-7 season-opening win over Drexel before a crowd of 2347 fans on a gloriously sunny afternoon at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers’ win is their second in a row over Drexel after getting upset in the season opener two years ago in Charlottesville.

Virginia dominated from the start and pounded Drexel goalie Mark Manos, making his collegiate debut, with 30 shots in the first half. Six different players scored as Virginia built a 7-0 lead after 22 minutes of play. Midfielder Brian Carroll opened the scoring by taking a pass in front from freshman Steele Stanwick and beating Manos for the goal. Stanwick’s assist came on the first offensive touch of his career.

Shamel Bratton scored from 12 yards a short time later and Danny Glading closed the first quarter scoring with a nifty dodge from X that beat Manos and gave the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes of action.