Blue Devils Meet Maryland In ACC Tournament Semifinals

April 18, 2002

Second-seeded and 12th-ranked Duke will meet third-seeded and sixth-ranked Maryland in the semifinals of the 2002 ACC Men's Lacrosse Tournament on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium.

The Blue Devils stand at 5-5 while the Terrapins enter the weekend at 7-3. Duke defeated Maryland, 9-8 in double overtime, back on March 3 in Durham.

Duke captured the 2001 ACC Tournament crown by upending Maryland, 10-6, in last year's championship game.

DUKE NOTES
2002 ACC TOURNAMENT: Duke enters the 2002 ACC Tournament at 5-5 overall and ranked 12th in the latest USILA national poll ... The Blue Devils are the tournament's number two seed after finishing 1-2 in the regular season ... Virginia captured the regular season title with a 3-0 mark and earned the tournament's top seed, while the three remaining seeds (Duke, Maryland [#3] and North Carolina [#4]) were determined with a draw this past Monday.

FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE:
#1 Virginia vs. #4 North Carolina, 6:00
#2 Duke vs. #3 Maryland, 8:30

DUKE IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT: Duke holds an all-time record of 7-11 in ACC Tournament play ... The Blue Devils have two championships to their credit, winning the event in 1995 and 2001.

2001 ACC TOURNAMENT: Senior midfielder Scott Bross earned MVP honors after leading second-seeded and 12th-ranked Duke to a 10-6 win over top-seeded and third-ranked Maryland and the 2001 ACC Lacrosse Championship held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. ... The ACC Tournament title marked the second for Duke 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 ... Goalkeeper Matt Breslin was credited with nine saves in goal including four in the final period ... Mike LaMonica paced the Terrapins with three goals on the day ... Duke advanced to the finals with an 11-9 win over North Carolina as Brennan scored two goals and dished out three assists while Lieske and Patchak contributed two goals apiece ... Maryland defeated Virginia in the semifinals, 12-8, as Dan LaMonica scored three goals and dished out one assist and Mike Mollot added three goals.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:

Scott Bross M Duke Matt Breslin GK Duke Kevin Brennan A Duke Kevin Cassese M Duke Dan Chemotti M Duke Chris HartofilisM Duke Stuart Schwartz D Duke Mike Lamonica M Maryland Michael Howley D Maryland Mike Mollet A Maryland Conor Gil A Virginia Bobby Gormson D N. Carolina

2002 ALL-ACC: A pair of Blue Devils - midfielder Kevin Cassese and defenseman Dan Hauber - were named to the All-ACC team as voted on by the league's four head coaches ... Virginia led the league with five selections while Maryland had four ... Cassese, the 2001 ACC Player of the Year, leads the conference in both ground balls per game and face-off percentage while scoring 25 points on 16 goals and nine assists ... Hauber, who spearheads the Blue Devil defensive unit which ranks second in the ACC and 13th nationally in team defense, leads Duke defenders with 21 ground balls on the year.

Kevin Cassese             	M         	Duke
Dan Hauber                  	D         	Duke
Mike Mollot                 	M         	Maryland
Michael Howley           	D         	Maryland
Chris Passavia              	D         	Maryland
Dan LaMonica             	A         	Maryland
Conor Gill                    	A         	Virginia
Chris Rotelli                  	M         	Virginia
Mark Koontz               	D         	Virginia
John Christmas             	A         	Virginia
Tillman Johnson            	GK      	Virginia

TOUGH SCHEDULE: Duke has played seven of the top 11 teams in this week's national poll, compiling a 2-5 record in those games ... In addition, the Blue Devils will meet sixth-ranked Maryland for a second time in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament and also face ninth-ranked Hofstra on April 26.

BLUE DEVIL DEFENSE: The Duke defense enters the ACC Tournament allowing an average of 8.30 goals per game - a mark which ranks second in the league and 13th in the nation ... Senior defensemen Michael Ferrari and Dan Hauber lead the unit along with junior goalkeeper A.J. Kincel ... Kincel is second in the ACC in both save percentage (.603) and goals allowed average (7.80).

FACE-OFFS: Juniors Kevin Cassese (.674) and Devan Wray (.652) rank one-two in the ACC and two-four nationally in face-off percentage ... Duke's team face-off percentage of .622 ranks third in the country behind Stony Brook (.642) and Towson (.624).

FRESHMAN CONTRIBUTION: Duke starts two freshmen in its starting lineup - Matt Monfett and Matt Rewkowski ... Monfett is fourth on the team in scoring with 22 points on 11 goals and 11 assists while Rewkowski is fifth with 15 points on 10 goals and five assists ... In Duke's 9-8 double overtime win over Maryland on March 3, Monfett's goal with just two seconds remaining in the second overtime proved to be the difference.

BACK-TO-BACK 30+ POINTS: Senior attackman Alex Lieske leads the Blue Devils with 30 points on the year, and has posted 30+ points in back-to-back seasons ... Last year, Lieske registered 46 points on 22 goals and 24 assists ... His 1.80 assists per game average this season ranks third in the ACC and 18th nationally ... For his career, Lieske has 84 points on 38 goals and 46 assists in 44 games.

NOTING THE DUKE UNIFORMS: Duke will wear an American Flag patch on its jerseys this season in remembrance of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 ... In addition, a decal with the initials "PO" have been applied to the back of the helmets to honor former Duke lacrosse player Peter Ortale, who passed away during the attacks.

DUKE HEAD COACH MIKE PRESSLER: Duke head coach Mike Pressler is in his 12th season at the helm of the Blue Devils, and owns a coaching record of 114-60 at Duke ... His overall coaching mark stands at 190-80 ... A two-time ACC Coach of the Year pick, Pressler has led the Blue Devils to a pair of ACC Championships and eight NCAA Tournament berths.

Blue Devils Meet Maryland In ACC Tournament Semifinals

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