MANHASSET, N.Y. – Despite a career-high 24-saves by senior goalkeeper Adam Fullerton, No. 2/1 Duke overpowered No. 8/9 Army, 10-6, Saturday afternoon at Manhasset High School on Long Island. The day’s game was played as part of the “Lead The Way Foundation Day Of Champions” in honor of former Duke Lacrosse player and Army Ranger Jimmy Regan who was killed in Iraq last year.
Five players found the net for Army, led by junior attackman Brooks Korvin and freshman midfielder Rob McCallion who each tallied a goal and an assist for the Black Knights (9-4).
Duke (13-1), which held a 48-25 edge in shots, was led by junior midfielder Ned Crotty, who scored a game-best three goals, while senior attackman Matt Danowski added three points on a goal and two assists.
“You try to take away something from Duke and they are that good. They put six guys on the field at all times that can hurt you. We tried to focus a little more on limiting their attack, but it was hard to put our guys in a position to stop such a complete offense. For us, though, there really isn’t much more you can say about (Adam Fullerton). Making 24 saves is nothing short of phenomenal.”
The Blue Devils took control of the game in the first quarter, tallying four goals, while holding the Black Knights scoreless. Goals by senior midfielder Brad Ross at 14:00, senior midfielder Zach Greer at 10:31, junior midfielder Steve Schoeffel at 9:22 and Crotty with 24 second left staked Duke to 4-0 first quarter lead.
Crotty made it a 5-0 Duke lead at 14:16 of the second quarter, before freshman attackman Brandon Butler put Army on the board with an unassisted goal at 14:05. The Black Knights scored their second goal less than two minutes later as senior midfielder Alex Rhoads bounced home a shot from eight yards out on the left side after a feed from Korvin from behind the goal to make it a 5-2 game at 12:10.
Crotty tallied his third goal at 10:40, before Ross netted his second goal at 6:35 as Duke built its lead back up to a 7-2 edge. Korvin bounced home his second goal from 10 yards away after a scramble off the ensuing faceoff at 6:21 as the Blue Devils held a 7-3 lead at halftime.
Sophomore attackman Tyler Oates scored a man-up goal on a feed from McCallion at 6:29 of the third quarter to get Army back within three, 7-4, but three unanswered Blue Devil goals to finish the quarter, including to by sophomore Max Quinzani, put Army in a six-goal hole, 10-4, after the third quarter.
McCallion scored on a 10-yard low-riser from the left side after a feed from senior midfielder Andrew Supiano at 11:49 to cut the lead to 10-5, but the Blue Devil defense held the Black Knights scoreless until the final second of the game when senior attackman Justin Bokmeyer found the net to close things out.
GAME NOTES – Fullerton eclipsed his previous career-high of 18 saves registered against Holy Cross on Feb. 27 of last year ... Army leads the all-time series by an 8-4 margin, but Duke has won four of the last five meetings since 2000 ... senior Roy Ragusa won 10-of 17 faceoffs as Army held a 10-9 advantage at the “x” ... Duke picked up 36 ground balls, while the Black Knights grabbed 20 ... Duke entered the game leading the country with a 16.0 scoring average, while Army owned the fifth-ranked scoring defense (6.55) ... Army awaits the outcome of Saturday’ night’s Colgate-Bucknell showdown in Lewisburg, Pa. If Colgate wins, the Black Knights will be the top-seed and host for the Patriot League Tournament this coming Friday (April 25) and Sunday (April 27). Should the Bison win, they will be the host and top-seed, moving Army to the second seed and setting up a rematch with Navy, who would be the third seed.
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