No. 1 Duke lacrosse has another NCAA title in sight after rare year away from playoffs
The return to normalcy is welcomed, especially after the odd spring Duke’s men’s lacrosse team experienced a year ago.
After missing the NCAA Tournament entirely in 2022, the No. 1-ranked Blue Devils are back on top this season, playing in sport’s final four for the 12th time in the past 16 tournaments.
Duke (15-2) faces Penn State at noon on Saturday at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, with a spot in Monday’s NCAA championship game on the line.
The Blue Devils represent the bluest of blue bloods in the sport, having won three NCAA championships (2010, 2013, 2014) and perennially ranking among the nation’s best teams. That’s what made their 11-6 record last season so unusual. Not being selected for the NCAA Tournament gives the returning players an unexpected perspective that’s aiding them this spring.
“It definitely just makes us more hungry, not having this experience last year,” Duke senior defender Kenny Brower said. “Obviously, people come to Duke to play in games like this. So it definitely gave us a little edge that’s been carrying us throughout the year. We’ve just got to keep it going until this weekend.”
That perspective is not lost on Duke coach John Danowski, the program’s coach since 2007 who has led the Blue Devils to all those national championships and the 12 championship weekend appearances. Despite all that success, as last year showed, he knows nothing is automatic.
“It’s hard to win at a Division I level in any sport,” Danowski said. “It’s hard to win. I give our kids a lot of credit. Each week they’ve come to work. They prepare well. They have a lot of fun. And I do believe this group loves each other. And that’s always the key, you know, guys who want to play for each other.”
Duke advanced to the championship weekend by hammering Michigan 15-8 last Saturday in the tournament quarterfinals. Junior Brennan O’Neill scored six goals while adding one assist in the rout. Two other Duke players, Andrew McAdorey and Dyson Williams, each recorded hat tricks with three goals.
Penn State (11-4), the No. 5 national seed, advanced with a 10-9 quarterfinal win over Army.
Despite that lopsided win over Michigan, Danowski said his team had some “poise issues” during that game that must be rectified for this weekend.
“We thought we could have been a bit better last week,” Danowski said, “and the goal is to be better this week.”
Danowski’s meticulously critical assessment notwithstanding, at least Duke had an easier time of it in the quarterfinals than earlier in the tournament. The Blue Devils edged Delaware, 12-11, in their NCAA Tournament opener on May 14.
“At this point in the year, on every team you’ve got guys’ careers that are coming to an end,” Brower said. “So everyone in every game is gonna give their absolute best and especially against a team like Duke. This is like their Super Bowl, so we have to bring it every single game and not take anyone lightly. Just stay focused.”
The Blue Devils are joined by two other ACC teams in the final four. Virginia and Notre Dame will play in Saturday’s second national semifinal, meaning the league is guaranteed to have a team in Monday’s 1 p.m. title game.
Duke owns two regular-season wins over Virginia, having defeated the Cavaliers, 16-14, on March 31 in Charlottesville, Virginia, before edging them 15-14 on April 15 in Durham. Notre Dame beat Duke, 17-12, at South Bend, Indiana, on April 8 in their lone meeting this season.