April 29, 2007
DURHAM, N.C. - Junior Zack Greer had three goals and three assists and senior Matt Danowski added three goals and an assist to lead Duke to a 12-9 win over Virginia on Sunday afternoon to claim the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. The ACC title is the fourth overall (1995, 2001, 2002, 2007) for the Blue Devils and their first since 2002.
Duke, ranked No. 2 in the latest USILA poll, improves to 13-2 on the year with the win, while Virginia slips to 12-3 overall.
Virginia opened the scoring at the 9:52 mark with a Garrett Billings goal off a pass from Gavin Gill. Billings, a sophomore from Langley, B.C., took the pass on the right wing and slid a shot into the upper left corner of the net. Billings spotted the Cavaliers to a 2-0 lead at 7:15 with a goal from the left wing. Junior Ben Rubeor assisted on Billings' second goal of the day.
Danowski trimmed the Duke deficit to 2-1 at 5:57 with an unassisted goal. Danowski split a pair of defenders in front of the cage and bounced in a shot from six yards out. Fred Krom tied the contest at 2-2 at the 1:27 mark with a goal from 15 yards out on the right wing. Greer assisted on the play. Danowski tacked on an unassisted goal with three seconds left in the quarter to give Duke its first lead of the day at 3-2.
The Farmingdale, N.Y., native slid by a Virginia defender at the top of the box and skipped a shot past Cavalier goalie Kip Turner from 18 yards out. Duke had the first scoring chance of the second quarter, but senior Peter Lamade hit the cross bar from directly in front of the goal two minutes into the stanza. Virginia tied the game at 3-3 when Rubeor netted a goal from 16 yards out on the right wing with 11:51 left in the half. The Cavaliers had another open scoring chance two minutes later, but Duke goalie Dan Loftus stuffed a shot by Ryan Kelly to stop a 3-on-1 breakaway. Duke countered with a scoring opportunity from Bo Carrington with 5:39 left in the half, but his shot from 10 yards out struck the right post and bounced away from goal.
Virginia regained the lead, 4-3, with 1:20 left in the half on a Jack Riley goal from in front of the cage. Riley took the scoring pass from Billings. Duke hit its third post of the quarter just over 40 seconds later when Greer hit the cross bar from six yards out on the right wing. Virginia also caught an unlucky break in the final 30 seconds of the half when Drew Thompson hit the right post from 15 yards out. The Cavaliers held Duke scoreless in the second quarter, just the fourth time this season the Blue Devils have failed to score at least one goal in a quarter.
Duke opened the third quarter with five straight goals to take an 8-4 lead at the 4:04 mark. Sophomore Mike Catalino tallied the first goal off a nice crossing pass from Carrington at 11:07 and freshman Max Quinzani gave the Blue Devils the lead with an unassisted goal off the ensuing face-off. Duke extended its lead to 6-4 at the 6:23 mark on Catalino's second goal of the quarter. Greer added a goal off a Michael Ward pass at 4:21 and Danowski capped off the run with a goal at the 4:04 mark. Greer picked up a loose ball in front of the Virginia cage and dropped a pass over a pair of Virginia defenders to Danowski to give Duke an 8-4 advantage.
The Cavaliers stopped the Blue Devil run at 3:24 when Rubeor scored off a Gill pass to make the score 8-5. Duke moved back ahead by four goals with a Ned Crotty goal with 2:24 left to play in the third. Virginia countered with goals by Brian Carroll (2:06) and Billings (1:42) to close the gap to 9-7, but Greer rebounded a shot by Lamade and scored his second goal of the quarter with six seconds left to give Duke a 10-7 edge after three quarters.
Rubeor scored his third goal of the day at the 13:28 mark of the fourth quarter to move Virginia back within two goals at 10-8. Virginia had several scoring opportunities, including a pair of extra-man chances, over the next nine minutes of action, but Loftus came up big for the Blue Devils with four saves during the stretch. Duke broke the scoring drought at the 4:24 mark when Greer scored off a pass from Danowski. Senior Tony McDevitt collected the ensuing face-off and Quinzani scored off a Crotty pass to give Duke a 12-8 lead. Virginia added a goal from Gill off a Rubeor pass with 54 seconds left to play for a final margin of 12-9. Loftus finished the day with 14 saves, including eight in the second half, while Turner had eight saves for the Cavaliers. Virginia posted a 41-34 edge in shots and a 16-8 mark in face-offs. Adam Fassnacht won 15-of-22 face-offs for the Cavaliers.
Quinzani and Catalino both finished with two goals for Duke, while Rubeor had three goals and two assists for the Cavaliers. Virginia also got three goals and an assist from Billings.
2007 ACC All-Tournament Team
Matt Danowski, Duke (MVP)
Bo Carrington, Duke
Casey Carroll, Duke
Zack Greer, Duke
Dan Loftus, Duke
Garrett Billings, Virginia
Ben Rubeor, Virginia
Ricky Smith, Virginia
Kip Turner, Virginia
Dan Groot, Maryland
Michael Burns, North Carolina
2007 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship - Postgame Quotes
Duke
Head Coach John Danowski
On Duke's sloppy win last week:
"I think offensively we've gotten better. It's hard to tell what happened there. That was the week after dismissal on Wednesday, so you can't tell exactly what was happening. The guys could probably answer those questions better than I could. But, I thought that today was just a heck of a Division I event. With 13,000 people being here over the past two days; that was just phenomenal. I thought this was great lacrosse."
On improvement:
"We're getting there. I think we're making strides. We're picking up the little nuances that we like to teach. I still believe we're going to get better. I believe they're still adjusting to our expectations and what it is that we like to see them do, but I think we're certainly improving each week."
Senior Attackman Matt Danowski
On Duke's run in the third quarter:
"Actually we were just talking about it. We didn't realize that they had seven goals in that quarter. I think we got them in a lot of different ways; there was one at the face-off when Max [Quinzani] comes up, hits the stick, and Zack [Greer] finds me. We want to get the ball to the ground, and make it a transition game and try to use our athleticism. We pride ourselves on that, and coach says, 'You're a good ground ball team, and you're tough on the ground and tough to beat.' I think we've kind of really taken to that."
On Dan Loftus' performance:
"We're kind of spoiled at this point because we kind of expect it. Every week it seems that he gets better. He made some unbelievable one-on-one stops today. When our goalie's playing hot like that, it makes our whole team relax and makes us play better. I thought that he did a good job in front of him, but he made a couple of saves that were just pretty ridiculous. When he's playing like that we're a tough team to beat. Hopefully he keeps it going."
Senior Goalkeeper Dan Loftus
On his performance today:
"It's just one of those days that you're just seeing the ball really well. I mean you've got to give them credit; they stuck some shots in today, but I was just seeing the ball well and I reacted well. During the game, my body just felt really good today, I felt really quick, and I was just seeing it well today."
Junior Attackman Zack Greer
On coverage on Matt Danowski opening up the field:
"I think we've seen that all year. Teams have to be on him or he's going to score again, and today, I'm not sure how many points he had today, but again, he draws so much attention that it opens it up for everybody else. Our midfielders especially have gotten so much better over the last couple of weeks. A bunch of guys stepped up and scored two goals, so when Matt's drawing attention like that, they're so conscious about what he's doing that it opens up room for other guys. There are all these people that are starting to put the ball in the net."
On attacking the net after a shot:
"It's something you can't really work on you've just got to know and react when it happens. We do a good job of that, and I think when a ball's popping out like that you've just got to be aware and know your surroundings and where everybody else is before it happens, and then it'll give you that extra step into picking it up and throwing it in the net."
Sophomore Midfielder Mike Catalino
On the seniors:
"I want to give credit to the seniors. Our seniors, every single one of them, are just filled with passion. They want it so bad. They want everything so bad that they just want to go out there and play. It's getting to this game that is the biggest part; once you're here you just play. You just play, and the seniors have told us over and over again, 'Don't worry about it.' They've showed great leadership through all of this Matt [Danowski], Dan [Loftus], and a lot of the guys."
Virginia
Head Coach Dom Starsia
On the game as a whole:
"I thought it was a great lacrosse game. I thought both teams went after each other the whole time. We played hard for the whole 60 minutes; the game got a way from us a little bit in the third quarter, clearing the ball. They're so dangerous in the middle of the field; we failed to clear it a couple times, and they just turned it over into offensive opportunities. They almost always cashed in on it; they're exceptionally good close to the cage. I thought overall they were a little sharper than we were shooting the ball, and I thought we had a number of good opportunities that we didn't cash in on, but I'm really proud of the effort of my team overall. It's probably as well as we've played in some period of time and I think it's a team that's going to continue to get better."
On Duke's run in the third quarter:
"I thought we were ready to start the third quarter, and our failure to clear at times is as much a product of their athleticism and their effort on their attack riding. Their attack riding is very good. They keep their players on the field. For teams that want to play the transition game like we do, like they do, you keep your midfielders out there, and they do. It's a chore getting the ball up and out sometimes. Like I say, they're especially dangerous when they do create those turnovers in the middle of the field, turning them over into great offensive opportunities. They did a better job of that than we did when we had similar kinds of opportunities. This has been a game where you go back and examine every little thing so closely, still it's a close lacrosse game with a goal here or there it might turn the other way. I thought it was a great game up and down the field."
Senior Goalkeeper Kip Turner
On defending against Duke:
"They're really good at getting behind you with their attackmen, and they're very quick with their sticks. That makes it tough to defend, and also with riding they're really good."
On defending Matt Danowski:
"He's a good passer, a good shooter, and good dodger, so he's got a complete game."
Senior Defender Ricky Smith
On defending Matt Danowski:
"He's most dangerous like coach was saying on the unsettled stuff, and that's why he was able to create a lot of opportunities to get points today. He's always looking for someone."
Junior Attackman Ben Rubeor
On the ACC experience:
"I think this was a good opportunity for us. I think, like coach said, we took a step in the right direction today. I think for two weeks it will give us a great opportunity to continue to improve and get much better."
On today's loss:
"I wasn't necessarily frustrated. I was happy with our effort today; I thought we played hard. I try and take every little thing I can as motivation, and I would have liked to been out there holding that trophy."
