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#3 Duke Survives #6 UNC Rally to Win Foxborough Trip
ANNAPOLIS, Md.- Senior attackman Ned Crotty scored two goals and handed out six assists to lead third-seeded Duke to a 12-11 win over sixth-seeded North Carolina and guide the Blue Devils to their third consecutive national semifinal appearance. A crowd of 12,142 at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium witnessed Duke's 11th straight win over the Tar Heels on an overcast and cool Sunday afternoon.
Duke (15-3) advances to face second-seeded Syracuse next Saturday at 12:00 p.m., on espn2 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The national semifinal berth is the fifth in school history (1997, 2005, 2007, 2008 & 2009), where Duke holds an all-time record of 2-2. North Carolina ends its season at 12-6. Saturday's second semifinal will feature top-seeded Virginia against fifth-seeded Cornell at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are all-session for $93.00 per ticket. The cost of ticket includes parking. The ticket office will sell tickets until Tuesday 4:30pm. Ticket sales are live goduke.com as of 6:30pm on Sunday night and phones will open at 8:30 - 4:30pm Monday and Tuesday.
Since the arrival of head coach John Danowski prior to the 2007 season, the Blue Devils are 50-8 overall including a 16-1 ledger versus ACC opponents. Duke has now won 10 of its last 13 NCAA Tournament games and improved to 16-6 all-time in the event when scoring 10 or more goals.
"I thought our guys played hard," Danowski said. "It wasn't always smooth, but the effort was there, that is for certain. We figured out how to hang in there and how to win and I think that will help us a whole lot in the long run."
"It's very fulfilling [advancing to the semifinals], probably much more than the two trips before, just because of how far we've come," Crotty said. "No one thought we would be in this position. We have come a long way. Everybody's grown quite a bit."
With his eight-point effort, Crotty moves into the NCAA lead for total points in 2009, passing North Carolina's Billy Bitter who entered Sunday's contest one point ahead of Crotty, 69-68. Crotty now has 76 points on the year including a nation's-best 53 assists. Bitter was held to just two assists against the Blue Devils, with sophomore defenseman Michael Manley drawing the primary assignment.
"Manley did a great job on him," said Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi. "Manley is a terrific defender." "I think guys are sticking to the offense," Crotty said. "Personally, I had a rough start at the beginning and wasn't dodging too well. I just kept playing with my head up and stuck with it. Our guys kept moving around. I kept my head up and I was able to find them."
Duke got goals from eight different players with sophomore Zach Howell leading the way with three goals. North Carolina was led by Wagner and Delaney with three tallies each.
The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after stifling the Tar Heel offense in the first eight minutes. Howell opened the run with the first two scores in a 2:07 span. The first came when Howell took the ball from behind the cage and beat his defenseman to the crease and dumped it past Tar Heel goalie James Petracca.
Minutes later Howell struck again for the Blue Devils. He found his way to the doorstep again and beat Petracca on the near post for the early 2-0 lead. After another good defensive stop, the Blue Devils quickly cleared. Junior Max Quinzani's shot from the right wing flew wide of the cage and was picked up by Crotty. The New Vernon, N.J., native stepped behind the cage and found Quinzani again on the right wing. This time the Blue Devils' sharpshooter buried the ball in the corner for a 3-0 lead at the 6:38 mark.
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Duke (15-3) advances to face second-seeded Syracuse next Saturday at 12:00 p.m., on espn2 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The national semifinal berth is the fifth in school history (1997, 2005, 2007, 2008 & 2009), where Duke holds an all-time record of 2-2. North Carolina ends its season at 12-6. Saturday's second semifinal will feature top-seeded Virginia against fifth-seeded Cornell at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are all-session for $93.00 per ticket. The cost of ticket includes parking. The ticket office will sell tickets until Tuesday 4:30pm. Ticket sales are live goduke.com as of 6:30pm on Sunday night and phones will open at 8:30 - 4:30pm Monday and Tuesday.
Since the arrival of head coach John Danowski prior to the 2007 season, the Blue Devils are 50-8 overall including a 16-1 ledger versus ACC opponents. Duke has now won 10 of its last 13 NCAA Tournament games and improved to 16-6 all-time in the event when scoring 10 or more goals.
"I thought our guys played hard," Danowski said. "It wasn't always smooth, but the effort was there, that is for certain. We figured out how to hang in there and how to win and I think that will help us a whole lot in the long run."
"It's very fulfilling [advancing to the semifinals], probably much more than the two trips before, just because of how far we've come," Crotty said. "No one thought we would be in this position. We have come a long way. Everybody's grown quite a bit."
With his eight-point effort, Crotty moves into the NCAA lead for total points in 2009, passing North Carolina's Billy Bitter who entered Sunday's contest one point ahead of Crotty, 69-68. Crotty now has 76 points on the year including a nation's-best 53 assists. Bitter was held to just two assists against the Blue Devils, with sophomore defenseman Michael Manley drawing the primary assignment.
"Manley did a great job on him," said Tar Heel head coach Joe Breschi. "Manley is a terrific defender." "I think guys are sticking to the offense," Crotty said. "Personally, I had a rough start at the beginning and wasn't dodging too well. I just kept playing with my head up and stuck with it. Our guys kept moving around. I kept my head up and I was able to find them."
Duke got goals from eight different players with sophomore Zach Howell leading the way with three goals. North Carolina was led by Wagner and Delaney with three tallies each.The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after stifling the Tar Heel offense in the first eight minutes. Howell opened the run with the first two scores in a 2:07 span. The first came when Howell took the ball from behind the cage and beat his defenseman to the crease and dumped it past Tar Heel goalie James Petracca.
Minutes later Howell struck again for the Blue Devils. He found his way to the doorstep again and beat Petracca on the near post for the early 2-0 lead. After another good defensive stop, the Blue Devils quickly cleared. Junior Max Quinzani's shot from the right wing flew wide of the cage and was picked up by Crotty. The New Vernon, N.J., native stepped behind the cage and found Quinzani again on the right wing. This time the Blue Devils' sharpshooter buried the ball in the corner for a 3-0 lead at the 6:38 mark.
2009-05-17
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