April 11, 2009

Duke Upsets Top-Ranked Virginia In ACC Finale

DURHAM, N.C.—Duke senior attackman Ned Crotty turned in a career day to lead the eighth-ranked Blue Devils to a thrilling 15-10 victory over top-ranked and unbeaten Virginia in front of a capacity crowd for men’s lacrosse at Koskinen Stadium. Crotty tallied a career-high eight points from two goals and a career-high six assists to lead all scorers in the contest.

The win was the sixth consecutive for Duke over the Cavaliers as no current Blue Devil has lost to Virginia during his career. Duke’s last win over the nation’s top-ranked squad came on May 26, 2007 when the Blue Devils prevailed over No. 1 Cornell in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals in Baltimore, Md. Duke last defeated a No. 1 team in Durham on April 21, 2002, edging the rival Cavaliers 14-13 for the ACC Tournament title.

Duke (9-3, 2-1 ACC) owns a share of the ACC title with Maryland and Virginia (12-1, 2-1 ACC) and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils have captured at least a share of the regular season title in four of the past five seasons.

Three Blue Devils either matched or surpassed their career-highs in points against the Cavaliers. Crotty led the way with eight points (2g-6a), while Turri finished with a career-high five points (3-2) and Mike Catalino matched his career high with a four-point outing (2-2). Junior Max Quinzani dropped in four goals. Duke handed out assists on 13 of its 15 goals and had nine different players with at least one point.

Danny Glading led all Virginia players with five points from four goals and an assist. Steele Stanwick added three goals and a helper.

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Tar Heels Hold Off Buckeyes To Improve To 9-4

BALTIMORE, MD. - Billy Bitter led North Carolina with four goals and an assist Saturday afternoon as the 10th-ranked University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team outlasted Ohio State 12-11 at Kelly Field at Calvert Hall College High School in Baltimore, Md. It was the fourth straight game involving the Tar Heels which has been decided by only one goal and UNC is now 3-2 overall in one-goal decisions this year.

Besides Bitter, the Tar Heels got two goals and an assist from Bart Wagner, two goals from Sean Burke and single goals from Jimmy Dunster, Sean Delaney, Mark Staines and Gavin Petracca. All those goals were needed to overcome a brilliant performance from Ohio State's Joel Dalgarno who had five goals and two assists for seven points for the Buckeyes.

UNC outshot the Buckeyes 46-37 and for the 13th straight time this season UNC won the ground ball battle at 47-30. Face-off man Shane Walterhoefer led the Tar Heels with 10 ground balls and he dominated the X, winning 18 of the 26 face-offs in the game. Sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder had 10 ground balls for the Tar Heels.

No. 9 Johns Hopkins Holds Off No. 12 Maryland In Smartlink Day of Rivals

BALTIMORE, Md. - The 105th meeting of Maryland and Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse programs lived up to its billing at the inaugural Smartlink Day of Rivals event as the No. 12 Terps had a shot on the crease turned away in the waning seconds in a 10-9 defeat to the ninth-ranked Blue Jays in front of 20,732 fans at M&T Bank Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The back-and-forth game saw Hopkins jump out to a 2-0 lead early in the first quarter and looked to be in control of the contest. But Maryland refused to back down and got on the board with 4:38 left in the opening period on sophomore Grant Catalino's first goal of the game on an assist from sophomore Ryan Young.

The Terps then tied the game at 2-2 a minute and a half later on senior Jeremy Sieverts' runner from the right alley that found the top left corner of the Hopkins net. That 2-2 tie was the first of seven ties in the game.