Men's Lacrosse Opens 2010 Season on Saturday

2/12/2010 4:00:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-The second-ranked Duke men's lacrosse team will open its 2010 season on Saturday, Feb. 13 against No. 19 Bucknell in a neutral site game at McEachern High School in Atlanta. The Blue Devils and Bison are scheduled to face off at 1 p.m.

To read the complete game notes: click here.

Duke Faces Bucknell In Season Opener

Duke (0-0) will open the season for the third consecutive year against Bucknell (0-0) of the Patriot League ... The Blue Devils and Bison have faced off in the first game of the year in 2008 and 2009 with Duke coming away with both victories ... The game will be played at McEachern High School in Atlanta, Ga.

Duke-Bucknell Series History

Duke and Bucknell are meeting for the third time in the programs' histories and for the third straight season ... The Blue Devils are 2-0 all-time, sporting a 16-4 win in 2008 and a 11-7 triumph in 2009 ... Duke is 32-34 all-time against Patriot League foes ... Senior Ned Crotty leads all current players with nine career points against the Bison.

Last Meeting

Ned Crotty scored one goal and handed out five assists to lead sixth-ranked Duke to an 11-7 win over No. 20 Bucknell in Durham ... The Blue Devils had four different players with at least three points on the afternoon ... Duke jumped out to a 6-2 halftime lead and held off the Bison in the final 30 minutes for the four-goal victory ... Bucknell was led by Joe Mele with five goals, while Austin Winter had a goal and four assists ... Duke allowed just four even-man goals in the game.

Scouting Duke

Under the guidance of fourth-year head coach John Danowski, the Blue Devils head into the season ranked first in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook ... Duke welcomes back seven starters, including the team's top four scorers, and 31 letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 15-4 record and captured the ACC Championship and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals ... Among the returners are eight preseason All-Americas, including first team selections Ned Crotty, Michael Manley and Parker McKee.

Scouting Bucknell

Bucknell enters the 2010 season after posting a 9-7 overall mark and winning the regular season Patriot League title ... The Bison welcome back five starters and 29 letterwinners from that team ... Headlining the potent attack is Austin Winter who finished with a team-high 49 points on 17 goals and 32 assists. Four-year starter Tim Brandau comes into the season with 98 career points and had 26 a season ago ... The Bison lost two starters on defense, including the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, but return a solid corps of experienced defensemen. Goalkeeper Sam Finnell enters as the leading candidate for the Bison in goal.

Duke Defeats U.S. National Team In Orlando

Senior attackman Max Quinzani scored with 5.8 seconds remaining in the game to lift Duke to a 9-8 exhibition victory over the U.S. men's national team in Orlando ... The U.S. team scored the game's first five goals, but the Blue Devils answered with five goals in the second quarter to tie the game ... The two squads exchanged leads until Quinzani tallied the winning goal ... Freshman Josh Offit led the team with three goals and the Duke defense held the U.S. team to just three goals in the final three quarters.

Duke Lettermen Lost

The Blue Devils lost a host of letterwinners from the 2009 squad. Headlining the 10 departures are midfielder Brad Ross, defenseman Ryan McFadyen and goalkeeper Robert Schroeder ... All three were starters with Ross earning All-America recognition and both McFadyen and Ross getting drafted by Major League Lacrosse ... Also lost to graduation from last year's squad are Chris Loftus, Gibbs Fogarty, Chris Tkac, Jay Jennison and Kevin Mayer.

Preseason All-America

The Blue Devils garnered eight spots on the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook All-America teams ... Senior attackman Ned Crotty and defensemen Michael Manley and Parker McKee headline the group on the first team, while senior attackman Max Quinzani, senior faceoff specialist Sam Payton, and sophomore long stick midfielder CJ Costabile earned second team honors ... Redshirt sophomore midfielder Justin Turri was voted to the third team and senior midfielder Steve Schoeffel picked up a nod on the honorable mention squad.

Captains

As voted on by their teammates, seniors Ned Crotty, Parker McKee, Sam Payton, and Max Quinzani will serve as captains for the 2010 campaign.

The Blue Devils kick off the home portion of their schedule on Feb. 20 against No. 9 Notre Dame at 1 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium.

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