Top-Seeded Blue Devils Advance Past North Carolina, 13-11

Friday, April 29

Baltimore, Md.

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Duke University

North Carolina

Top-Seeded Blue Devils Advance Past North Carolina, 13-11

4/29/2005 1:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

April 29, 2005

Box Score

BALTIMORE, Md. - Freshman attackman Zack Greer scored four goals and senior goalkeeper Aaron Fenton matched his career-high with 20 saves as second-ranked and top-seeded Duke defeated fourth-seeded North Carolina, 13-11, in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.

The Blue Devils improve to 14-1 on the year, establishing a new school record for victories in a season. Duke's 1999 club set the school mark with 13 wins. Duke will make its eighth appearance in the league tournament finals, winning the event in 1995, 2001 and 2002. It will mark the Blue Devils' fourth championship game berth in the last five seasons.

Duke will meet the Virginia-Maryland winner in the title game on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The championship game will be televised by Comcast SportsNet and Fox Sports South. North Carolina concludes its season at 5-8.

"We got exactly what we expected from North Carolina," Duke head coach Mike Pressler said. "They came out with their backs against the wall and played well. It's about winning and advancing in tournament play and we did so against a very tough and dangerous Carolina team. We're proud of this win, and we're looking forward to playing on Sunday for the ACC Tournament title."

Greer's four tallies pushed his season total to 47, setting a new Duke single-season record for goals by a freshman, a mark previously held by Dave Hagler (44 in 1978). The Whitby, Ontario, Canada native is now tied for third on Duke's single-season chart overall, sitting behind John Fay (53 in 1997) and Josh Dennis (50 in 1989). On Friday night, Greer added one assist to increase his season point total to 58.

"We've got so many offensive threats out there that a team can't take anybody lightly," Greer said. "(Matt Danowski and Dan Flannery) can make plays and the defense has to go to those guys so I just have to get myself in position and I know they are going to make a great play and get me the ball. I just have to finish the play. That's kind of what we've been doing all year."

The Tar Heels jumped on top 1-0 just 11 seconds into the contest when Ryan Blair found the back of the net on an assist from Mike Munnelly. Duke then scored three straight goals with Kyle Dowd, Flannery and Peter Lamade beating North Carolina goalie Paul Spellman.

After Billy Staines scored for North Carolina with 6:20 left in the second quarter to make the game 3-2, the Blue Devils tallied the final three goals of the half with Danowski scoring from Greer with just three seconds left on the clock.

Duke opened the third quarter with a 4-1 run, pushing the lead to 10-3 when Danowski scored his 36th goal of the season on an assist from Flannery. Danowski, named the ACC Player of the Year on Thursday, finished the day with two goals and two assists to push his league-leading point total to 67 on 36 goals and 31 assists. The 67 points equal the highest single-season total in head coach Mike Pressler's 15-year tenure at Duke, matching efforts by Fay in both 1997 and 1998.

North Carolina rallied to pull within 10-8 with a 5-0 run. In the spurt, Mike McCall scored two goals and Blair dished out three assists. Duke ended the run with a goal by Flannery at the 11:52 mark of the fourth period, but Ryan Walterhoefer made it a two-goal contest less than two minutes later. Greer then scored consecutive goals to give Duke a four-goal cushion with less than five minutes left in the game.

"I thought it was key that we never let them cut (the lead) to one," Pressler said.

Fenton's 20 saves matched his career-best effort against Johns Hopkins during the 2004 campaign. Matt Zash and Lamade each recorded two goals and two assists on the game.

Blair led the Tar Heels with three goals and three assists.