MANHASSET, N.Y. – Ned Crotty netted three goals on Saturday afternoon as second-ranked Duke defeated eighth-ranked Army, 10-6, at the Lacrosse Day of Champions, an event held to pay homage to former Blue Devil Jimmy Regan.
Regan, an Army Ranger who was killed in Iraq last year, was a high school All-America at Chaminade High School and went on to play at Duke from 1999-2002. Saturday’s event will raise funds for Manhasset community athletic facilities and support the dependents of the U.S. Army Rangers.
Duke jumped out to a 1-0 lead as Brad Ross found the net just one minute into the contest. Zack Greer then increased the Blue Devils’ advantage to 2-0 on a pass from Matt Danowski as Duke converted on a man-up opportunity, before Danowski found Steve Schoeffel at the 9:22 mark to make the score 3-0.
Crotty netted his first goal of the day with 24 seconds remaining the first period before beginning the second period with another tally to give the Blue Devils a 5-0 advantage.
Army responded with goals from Brandon Butler and Alex Rhoades to put the score at 5-2, but Crotty scored again at 10:40 before Ross added a goal at 6:35 to put the Blue Devil lead back to five at 7-2.
The Black Knights secured the last score of the half at 6:29 on a goal from Brooks Korvin, a tally which sent Duke into the break with a 7-3 lead.
Both teams were held scoreless in the third period until the 6:29 mark when Tyler Oates netted a man-up tally for Army to put the score at 7-4.
Duke responded with three consecutive goals as Danowski scored once and Max Quinzani scored twice to put Duke on top 10-4. Army closed the half with scores from Rob McCallion and Justin Bokmeyer to account for the final score.
In goal for the Blue Devils, Dan Loftus secured 10 saves while Black Knight keeper Adam Fullerton recorded a career-high 24 saves on the afternoon.
With one tally on the day, Greer moves into a tie for fifth place on the NCAA all-time goals list with 184 and into a tie for third place on the ACC all-time points chart with 254. Duke improves to 51-5 in games in which the Whitby, Ontario, Canada native has scored.
Danowski recorded three points versus the Black Knights to put his career total at 326, 17 points shy of first place on the NCAA all-time scoring chart (343 points by Joe Vasta, Air Force, 1983-86).
The Blue Devils will travel to Charlottesville, Va., on Thursday to face North Carolina in the semifinal round of the 2008 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship. Duke earned the top seed for the league tournament for the third time in four seasons after finishing the regular season with a perfect 3-0 mark. Face-off is set for 5 p.m.
