Men's Lacrosse To Play Towson In NCAA Opening Round

May 9, 2001

The Game
In one of four NCAA Tournament first round games, Duke meets sixth-seeded Towson in Baltimore, Md., on Saturday, May 12 ... Face-off is set for 12:05 p.m., with the game being played on the campus of UMBC ... The Blue Devils, winners of five out of their last six games, enter the postseason at 11-5 while the Tigers stand at 12-3 ... Duke received an at-large bid to the 2001 NCAA Tournament while Towson is an automatic qualifier due to its America East championship ... Towson leads the all-time series with Duke, 6-2.

Duke & The NCAA Tournament
Duke will be making its eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament including fifth in a row ... The Blue Devils have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons, making a run to the Final Four in 1997 ... All eight of Duke's NCAA Tournament bids have come under head coach Mike Pressler ... The Blue Devils are 5-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, having made previous appearances in 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 ... Duke 's five wins have come by an average of 5.0 goals while the Blue Devils' seven losses have come by an average of 1.7 goals.

Duke's NCAA Tournament Results

1992	Maryland 13	Duke 11
1994	Duke 14	Maryland 9
	Syracuse 12	Duke 11
1995	Notre Dame 12	Duke 10
1997	Duke 11	Brown 6
	Duke 12	Johns Hopkins 11 (OT)
	Princeton 10	Duke 9
1998	Duke 16	North Carolina 14
	Princeton 11	Duke 9
1999	Georgetown 17	Duke 14
2000	Duke 13	Hobart 1
	Virginia 10	Duke 9

Duke Vs. The NCAA Field
Duke holds a record of 2-4 against teams which made the 12-squad NCAA Tournament field this season ... The Blue Devils defeated Maryland and Virginia while suffering losses to Maryland, Hofstra, Loyola and Georgetown.

The 2001 NCAA Tournament
First Round
Saturday, May 12th at UMBC
(6) Towson vs. Duke
(7) Loyola vs. Georgetown

Sunday, May 13th at Army
(5) Notre Dame vs. Bucknell
(8) Virginia vs. Hofstra

Quarterfinals
Saturday, May 19th at Hofstra
Virginia/Hofstra vs. (1) Syracuse
Loyola/Georgetown vs. (2) Princeton

Sunday, May 20th at Maryland
Towson/Duke vs. (3) Maryland
Notre Dame/Bucknell vs. (4) Johns Hopkins

Final Four
May 26-28 at Rutgers

Scouting Towson
The 12-3 Tigers enter the NCAA Tournament fresh off of capturing the America East Championship with tournament wins over Vermont and Hofstra ... Towson is led offensively by junior Brad Reppert, who has season totals of 30 goals and 33 assists for 63 points ... Sophomore Kyle Campbell adds 45 goals and 14 assists while sophomore Ryan Obloj has 26 goals and 20 assists to his credit ... In goal, senior John Horrigan has 159 saves and a 7.5 goals against average.

Cassese & Pressler Honored By ACC
Duke sophomore midfielder Kevin Cassese was honored as the ACC Player of the Year, while Blue Devil head coach Mike Pressler garnered league Coach of the Year honors ... Cassese, a sophomore midfielder from Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., becomes Duke's second ACC Player of the Year, joining Matt Ogelsby who earned the award in 1995 ... Through 16 games, Cassese has registered 23 goals and 12 assists for 35 total points ... In addition, he has 81 total ground balls -- a total which ranks second on the team behind Scott Bross' total of 89 ... The ACC Coach of the Year citation for Pressler is his second as the 11th year head coach was also honored in 1995 ... In 2001, Pressler has guided Duke to its second ACC Championship and the Blue Devils fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.

ACC Champions
Duke captured its second ACC Tournament championship on April 20-22 at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. ... The second-seeded Blue Devils defeated third-seeded North Carolina, 11-9, in the semifinals before knocking off top-seeded Maryland, 10-6, in the title game ... Duke also captured the league tournament crown in 1995.

Bross Named ACC Tournament MVP
Duke senior midfielder Scott Bross was tabbed as the ACC Tournament's Most Valuable Player after winning 22-of-34 (.647) face-offs and registering 10 ground balls in Duke's pair of wins.

ACC All-Tournament
Led by MVP Scott Bross, Duke placed seven players on the ACC All-Tournament Team as voted on by the media representatives at the event ... Also representing the Blue Devils were sophomore Kevin Brennan, senior Matt Breslin, sophomore Kevin Cassese, junior Dan Chemotti, senior Chris Hartofilis and senior Stuart Schwartz ... Also named to the team were Maryland's Mike LaMonica, Michael Howley, and Mike Mollet, North Carolina's Bobby Gormson and Virginia's Conor Gill.

Brennan Enjoys Top Opponents
In Duke's nine games against ranked opponents (Maryland [2], Loyola, Brown, North Carolina [2], Georgetown, Virginia & Hofstra), sophomore Kevin Brennan has totalled 15 goals and 12 assists to lead the Blue Devils in scoring in those games ... Here is a breakdown of Brennan's performances against Duke's ranked opponents: Maryland 2-0-2 & 2-1-3, Loyola 1-3-4, Brown 0-2-2, North Carolina 2-0-2 & 2-3-5, Georgetown 1-1-2, Virginia 4-2-6, Hofstra 1-0-1 ... The Farmingdale, N.Y., native owns a career-best point total of six set against Virginia and duplicated versus St. Andrews.

Lieske Pushes Streak To 19
With his two-goal, two-assist, performance in the regular season finale against St. Andrews, junior Alex Lieske increased his streak of consecutive games with at least one point to 19 dating back to last year ... The Timonium, Md., native is second on the Blue Devils in scoring with 42 points on 18 goals and 24 assists and is the only Duke player to have registered at least one point in all 16 games this season.

Duke's Bross & Towson's Berry
Saturday's face-offs will feature two of the nation's best individuals in Duke's Scott Bross and Towson's Justin Berry ... Both seniors, Bross (.675) ranks third nationally while Berry is fourth (.644).

Sweeping The ACC In Eight Days Duke pulled off a rare feat by defeating all three ACC schools in an eight-day span ... On Saturday, April 14, the Blue Devils defeated then ninth-ranked Virginia at home before upending then 17th-ranked North Carolina and third-ranked Maryland on April 20 and 22, respectively, in the ACC Tournament.

Patchak Up The Charts
With 43 points on the season, Greg Patchak has moved into 14th place on Duke 's all-time scoring chart with 149 career points ... The Timonium, Md., native has career totals of 97 goals and 52 assists, needing just three goals to become the 11th player in Duke lacrosse history to reach the 100-goal plateau.

Blue Devil Seniors
Duke's seniors will play in their fourth straight NCAA Tournament in 2001 ... This group has helped Duke to a four-year record of 46-17, a school single-season record for wins (13 in 1999), one ACC Championship (2001) and three NCAA Quarterfinal appearances (1998, 1999 & 2000).

NCAA Statistics
According to the latest NCAA statistics, Duke ranks second in face-off percentage (.670), 10th in scoring defense (8.19), 10th in scoring margin (+3.44), 13th in scoring offense (11.63) and 17th in extra-man scoring offense (.338) ... Individually, Scott Bross is third in face-off percentage (.675) while Matt Breslin is 14th in goals against average (8.69).

All-ACC
Three Blue Devils -- Scott Bross, Kevin Cassese and Chris Hartofilis -- were named to the 11-man All-ACC team as voted on by the league's four head coaches ... Bross continues to lead the league in face-off percentage (.675) and also leads Duke with 89 ground balls ... Cassese ranks fourth on the Blue Devil squad with 35 points on 23 goals and 12 assists and is second on the team with 81 ground balls ... Hartofilis, one of 15 finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy given to the nation's top collegiate player, is fifth on the team in scoring with 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists.

Tewaaraton Trophy
Duke's Chris Hartofilis is one of 15 finalists for the inaugural Tewaaraton Trophy which is given to the top player in the nation ... Hartofilis currently ranks fifth on the Blue Devil team in scoring with 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists ... The finalists include: Roger Buttles, Harvard, Josh Coffman, Syracuse, R.J. Degenfelder, C.W. Post, Conor Denihan, Johns Hopkins, Conor Gill, Virginia, John Glatzel, Syracuse, Chris Hartofilis, Duke, Holt Hopkins, Middlebury, Mark Koontz, Virginia, Rob Mulligan, Syracuse, Doug Shanahan, Hofstra, Jeff Sonke, North Carolina, Mike Springer, Syracuse, Trevor Tierney, Princeton, and Dave Ulrich, Notre Dame.

2001 ACC Tournament
SEMIFINALS
Duke 11, North Carolina 9 * April 20
Sophomore attackman Kevin Brennan scored two goals and handed out three assists to lead second-seeded Duke to an 11-9 win over third-seeded North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals held at the Walt Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. ... North Carolina led 7-3 at halftime, but the Blue Devils came out of the lockerroom and scored four unanswered goals -- including two by Alex Lieske -- to tie the game at 7-7 when Terrence Keaney beat Tar Heel goalie Kris Blindenbacker with 6:15 left in the third quarter. Jeff Sonke's unassisted, extra-man goal with 5:07 remaining in the period gave North Carolina the lead, but Jimmy Regan tallied for the Blue Devils and the teams went to the fourth quarter tied, 8-8 ... Greg Patchak gave Duke its first lead of the game with an unassisted goal less than two minutes into the fourth period, and the Blue Devils pushed the lead to two goals when Brennan scored off a pass from Devan Wray at the 10:32 mark ... Keaney then fed Patchak for Duke's fourth straight goal and an 11-8 Blue Devil advantage with 7:12 left to play ... North Carolina's Steven Will accounted for the final margin with his second goal of the contest at the 5:28 mark ... Brennan totalled five points on the night while Patchak added three points on two goals and one assist ... North Carolina was led by Andrew Lucas and Will, who each tallied four points ... Duke goalkeeper Matt Breslin was credited with 12 saves while Blindenbacher made 14 saves for the Tar Heels.

FINALS
Duke 10, Maryland 6 * April 22
Senior midfielder Scott Bross earned MVP honors while leading second-seeded and 12th-ranked Duke to a 10-6 win over top-seeded and third-ranked Maryland and the 2001 ACC Men's Lacrosse Championship held at the Walt Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. ... The ACC Tournament title for Duke is its second as the Blue Devils also captured the crown in 1995 ... With the score tied at 2-2 in the second quarter, Kevin Cassese scored an unassisted goal to begin a string of four unanswered goals for the Blue Devils ... Alex Lieske, Dan Chemotti and Terrence Keaney all scored goals in the run as Duke took a 6-2 lead into halftime ... Maryland tallied the first two goals of the second half to pull within 6-4, but Jimmy Regan's goal at the 3:14 mark of the third quarter put Duke ahead, 7-4 ... The Terrapins would score to get within 7-5, but Duke registered three consecutive goals by Chris Hartofilis, Greg Patchak and Kevin Brennan to pull away ... Brennan and Chemotti led the Blue Devils with three points each on two goals and one assist ... Duke goalkeeper Matt Breslin was credited with nine saves in goal including four in the final period ... Maryland received a game-high three goals from Mike LaMonica.

Head Coach Mike Pressler
Now in his 11th season atop the Duke men's lacrosse program, Mike Pressler holds career records of 109-54 with the Blue Devils and 185-74 in 17-plus overall seasons ... The 1995 and 2001 ACC Coach of the Year, Pressler is an assistant coach for the Team USA squad which will play in the 2002 Lacrosse World Championships in Perth, Australia ... Pressler guided Duke to the 1995 ACC Championship, a berth in the NCAA Final Four in 1997 and to a school-record 13 wins in 1999 ... He has led the Blue Devils to double figure win totals in seven of the past eight seasons ... The 1982 graduate of Washington & Lee made previous coaching stops at Hampden-Sydney (Assistant Coach, 1982), VMI (Head Coach, 1983), Army (Assistant Coach 1984-85) and Ohio Wesleyan (Head Coach, 1986-90).

The Mike Pressler Era At Duke

Year	Record	Pct.	Note
1991	7-5	.583
1992	7-7	.500	NCAA Tournament
1993	9-5	.643
1994	10-6	.625	NCAA Quarterfinals
1995	12-4	.750	ACC Champions, NCAA Tournament
1996	6-6	.500
1997	12-4	.750	NCAA Final Four
1998	11-4	.733	NCAA Quarterfinals
1999	13-3	.813	School record for wins, NCAA Quarterfinals
2000	11-5	.688	NCAA Quarterfinals
2001	11-5	.688	ACC Champions, NCAA Tournament
Total	109-54	.669	Two ACC Championships
			Eight NCAA Tournament berths
			Two-Time ACC Coach of the Year

Coaching Staff
Associate head coach Joe Alberici is in his fifth season with the Blue Devils and serves as Duke's offensive coordinator ... A 1991 graduate of Alfred University, Alberici made previous coaching stops at his alma mater (Graduate assistant coach, 1992-93), State University College at Oneonta (Head coach, 1994) and Army (Assistant coach, 1995-96) ... Assistant coach Jim Gonnella is in his second season on the Blue Devil coaching staff ... Gonnella is one of the most decorated players in Duke lacrosse history, earning the Lt. Donald McLaughlin National Midfielder of the Year honor in 1997 as well as All-America honors in both 1996 and 1997 ... This past January, Gonnella was named one of the Major League Lacrosse's 18 "Assigned Players" and will play with the Fairfield, Conn., franchise.

Men's Lacrosse To Play Towson In NCAA Opening Round

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