Between Zack Greer’s prolific goal scoring, and Matt Danowski’s incredible play making, the Duke Blue Devils hide another weapon on the attack. Often seen as the “third option,” sophomore Max Quinzani has lit up teams, though his play is often overshadowed by the productivity and flash of his linemates. (Currently Quinzani is second in the nation with 54 goals, four behind his teammate Greer). “Obviously Dano and Zack compliment each other,” Quinzani said. “They’re like two ends of a phone call. The better they do, the more attention they get, the less attention I get, so they can use me as an outlet to still make plays.” The three have produced some ridiculous numbers this season. They have combined for 232 points, scoring 150 of the team’s 274 goals this year. “I think we do, as an attack unit, a great job of recognizing what type of defense they play and reacting to it,” Danowski said. “We each just kind of feed off each other. Each one of us has something that we’re good at, but overall we’re three attackman that can play teams anywhere on the field and do anything. We’re not just a lefty, a righty, and a finisher; everyone does everything.” In some ways similar to Greer, Quinzani has learned to capitalize on that role of finisher. No longer just waiting for a dump pass when the defense forgets about him in their rush to play another offensive stud, Quinzani has learned where to go to be the most effective. “We teach formations and playing off of one and other,” Duke Coach John Danowski said. “Max has got this uncanny ability to understand the flow of the offense and where to go.” And while they might not be as pretty as tapping in cross cage feeds or burying fast breaks, Quinzani has made the most of the least glamorous of opportunities, garbage goals. “I recently attained the nickname of ‘Rat Boy’ because everyone thinks I score all my goals off the crease,” Quinzani said. “I don’t mind; every goal counts the same.” But that tenacious, opportunistic play has become his strong suit. Because of his slightly smaller stature, at least by Division I standards (he is listed at 5’7”, 180 lbs.), Quinzani explodes through the groundballs, his Coach said, soaking up loose balls at a rate more common to defenseman. Quinzani’s small stature also helps his crafty play. He is very quick, usually getting a step on his man early in a dodge, especially when rushing from behind the cage. Being a little shorter, his center of gravity is a little lower, so he is harder to knock off his line when defenders try to play his body. His emergence as a dodging threat just makes the Duke attack that much harder to handle. “A lot of his goals come from dodging one-on-one against his defenseman on the wing or behind,” Greer said. “A lot of teams don’t want to slide from Matt and I, so he’s been able to capitalize that way.” That hesitancy to slide has been costly. Teams that won’t leave Greer and Danowski find themselves surrendering mulit-goal assaults to Quinzani. “We knew coming back that if he was going to be our third attackman, our quote, ‘third attackman’,” Danowski jests, “he was going to get a great match-up every week, because I don’t think there’s a defenseman in the country who can cover him.” No longer just a finisher, Quinzani has become a catalyst for the offense. His play exudes confidence. While he may have surprised some opposing coaches this season, the boys in Durham knew it was just a matter of time. “Obviously you’ve seen him develop tremendously over the past two years,” Greer said. “That’s something we knew was going to come.” Quinzani came into Duke as a bit of an oxymoron—a highly touted, yet unproven recruit. While playing for Duxbury Academy in Massachusetts, he broke Casey Powell’s high school career point scoring record, tallying 577, 24 more than Powell. It seemed obvious he had skills, but coming from an area not known for its lacrosse prowess, some wondered how Quinzani would do against the superior athletes and level of play in DI. “It was nice coming into Duke and kind of being humbled by my teammates who didn’t necessarily know about the record, or much care about it, and me coming from Massachusetts, which wasn’t really known for lacrosse,” Quinzani said. “It was nice coming in and being the kid they hadn’t really heard much about, and I could kind of develop around people who didn’t know me.” The adjustment was difficult originally for Quinzani. While he was attracted to Duke because of the speed they played at, it was hard to actually keep up with that speed on the field. His eyes were even wider when realizing who he was playing with. Having followed the Blue Devils as a fan, he was in awe of teammates like Greer and Danowski. “The guy who really took me under his wing was Gibbs Fogarty,” Quinzani said. “He showed me how to work, how to find your way in practice and not step on anyone’s toes and still watch and learn everything. Me and him got to be good friends…. He really showed me the ropes.” As a freshman, Quinzani split time through the season with the then sophomore Fogarty. Eventually favoring the match-ups it created, Coach Danowski gave the starting role to Quinzani in the ACC tournament, a role he has not relinquished since. (Fogarty suffered an ACL tear in January missing the 2008 season.) But while his adjustment to DI lacrosse may have taken some time, his acceptance by his teammates was instant. Quinzani, Terrence Molinari, and Parker McKee were the only three recruits to honor their commitments to Duke following the felicitous scandal of the 2006 season. The decision showed a lot of confidence in a team with a very uncertain future. That faith was almost immediately reciprocated. “Those three guys had this instant credibility with the upperclassmen, because man, you guys took a hell of a leap of faith,” Coach Danowski said. “You didn’t know if there was going to be a program. You didn’t know who the coach was going to be, and you decided to stay. “ For those players struggling through the ordeal, it meant a lot to see such a vote of confidence in the team. “We had an unbelievable respect for them, right away, “Matt said. “We knew they were going to have our back because they stuck with us through that when everybody else bailed on us, so we knew we were going to have their backs if they were going to have ours. They kind of came in with a different level of respect than most other freshman do because of what they did for us.” In an environment of camaraderie and respect, the team gave fans something to have faith in as they charged back to the national championship game, eventually losing to Hopkins by a goal, again. That playoff run became a baptism by fire for Quinzani. "Looking back on last year, I don’t have that many memories just because everything was moving so fast, I guess I wasn’t ready for it,” Quinzani said. He sights the championship game as one of the more frustrating instances. Not quite ready to assert himself and independently make plays, he was not able to help teammates Greer and Danowski out as the Hopkins defense crushed down on the attack, limiting their usual scoring chances. This year, Quinzani feels ready to step up in that role if needed. “This year I can savor every moment, and listen to my coaches, and play as if I’ve been there before because I have,” he said. “I can settle down and make the little plays that will help everyone put the ball in the back of the net.” With Duke favored to challenge for the title again, Quinzani should have opportunities to prove he is a better, more confident player this year. It is a confidence bred from playing the high-octane style Duke loves. It is game experience from playing in nearly 40 contests at this point in his career. That is the equivalent of being a junior or senior at some schools, Coach Danowski pointed out. “He’s just going to get better with experience,” Coach said. “It will also be interesting to see what’s going to happen next year, but there’s a part of me that, the way we’re playing right now, the next guys who step up, that his numbers won’t change too much.” His biggest vote of confidence might be from the man he will have to replace in some ways next year. With Matt Danowski leaving at the end of the season, Quinzani will probably fill that quarterbacking role on the attack. Danowski sees Quinzani adjusting well and leading the high-powered Duke offense. “He’s going to have a ton of success here,” Danowski said. “He’s got the work ethic for it, he’s got the talent, and he knows the game. So it’s up to him, but he can have a great career here.”