No. 1 Cornell Defeats No. 5 Duke, 7-6

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Tuesday, March 20

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

Cornell

Defense Lifts No. 5 Blue Devils Past No. 7 Georgetown, 6-4

No. 1 Cornell Defeats No. 5 Duke, 7-6

3/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- Eric Pittard's extra man goal with 8:54 remaining in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winning tally as top-ranked Cornell defeated fifth-ranked Duke, 7-6, in front of 2,332 fans at Koskinen Stadium in Durham on Tuesday night.

The Big Red improves to 5-0 on the year while the Blue Devils fall to 5-2.

Duke jumped on top 1-0 less than five minutes into the game when Sam Payton found the back of the net off a feed from Bo Carrington. After David Mitchell scored the first of his three goals to equal the score, Matt Danowski put the Blue Devils ahead by two with a pair of tallies at the 1:24 mark of the first period and 9:11 mark of the second quarter.

Mitchell's second goal of the evening came on a pass from Danny Nathan with 90 seconds left before halftime, but Zack Greer pumped in the 92nd goal of his career with just 13 seconds remaining to give Duke a 4-2 lead at intermission.

Cornell used a 3-0 spurt in the third period to claim a 5-4 advantage with Henry Bartlett, Max Seibald and Brian Clayton producing goals. After Duke's Peter Lamade tied the game with an unassisted goal from the right side, Greer found Payton for a 6-5 Blue Devil lead with just six seconds left in the quarter.

Striking paydirt immediately off the face-off to begin the final period, the Big Red knotted the game at 7-7 when Mitchell scored just seven seconds into the fourth quarter. Pittard's game-winning goal, which came following a scramble for the ball near the midfield line, then came six minutes later on an assist from Seibald. The Blue Devils' last chance came with less than one minute remaining, but Danowski's shot from outside hit the far post.

Mitchell paced the Big Red offense with three goals while Seibald contributed one goal and two assists. In goal, Matt McMonagle registered 11 saves while collecting a team-best five ground balls.

Danowski and Payton each scored two goals to lead the Blue Devils. Danowski moved into a tie for seventh place on Duke's all-time scoring list with 190 career points on 105 goals and 85 assists. Dan Loftus was credited for 17 saves including nine in the final 15 minutes while Nick O'Hara and Max Quinzani had seven and six ground balls, respectively.

On Saturday, Duke travels to face Georgetown (1 p.m.) while Cornell remains on the road to face Yale (2 p.m.).