No. 2 Denver Outlasts No. 3 Duke, 14-12

Saturday, February 20

Kennesaw, Ga.

2:00 PM

Duke University

2-1

Denver

2-0

Denver

Duke University

No. 2 Denver Outlasts No. 3 Duke, 14-12

2/20/2016 5:33:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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By: Duke Sports Information

KENNESAW, Ga.—Second-ranked Denver scored the game's final two goals to outlast No. 3 Duke 14-12 in a thrilling back-and-forth men's lacrosse game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium Saturday afternoon on the campus of Kennesaw State University. Myles Jones led all scorers with five points.

“This is always a great opportunity to play here in Atlanta,” said head coach John Danowski. “It's a neat atmosphere and playing against the defending national champions was a great experience for our team.”

Deemer Class registered four goals to go with Jones' three goals and two assists, while Case Matheis had a goal and three assists. Duke never led in the game as it fought back to tie it four times over the course of the four quarters.

Duke (2-1), trailing 12-9 after a 3-0 run by Denver early in the fourth quarter, roared back to tie the game with a trio of goals in a span of 80 seconds. Chad Cohan started the run with a finish from a Matheis pass behind the goal, while Class and Justin Guterding threw in goals to complete the comeback.

“I'm delighted with our effort overall, “ Danowski said. “I thought we were somewhat tentative in the first quarter, both offensively and defensively. We won the first five faceoffs, but didn't score a goal. Against a team like this you have to take advantage of those opportunities.”

However, the Blue Devils were unable to get over the hump as the Pioneers went ahead again at 5:13 on a goal from Tyler Pace. Denver's Colin Woolford tallied another with 3:05 to play and the Pioneers made key defensive stops down the stretch to earn the win.

Denver (2-0) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first eight minutes before Duke responded with three unanswered to tie the game 3-3 early in the second quarter. Jones had a hand in all three goals, scoring twice and assisting on the third.

That trend continues as the Pioneers scored consecutive goals to take a 5-4 lead into halftime. The Blue Devils scored to start the third quarter and the squads traded goals to stay deadlocked at 7-7 late in the frame.

Connor Cannizzaro broke the tie again with back-to-back goals for a 9-7 lead heading into the final period. Just like it had done all game, the Blue Devils gained momentum with consecutive tallies from Jack Bruckner and Matheis, but crucial faceoff wins from Denver's Trevor Baptiste allowed the Pioneers to answer the Duke run.

Baptiste was 18-of-30 at the faceoff X for the afternoon, including 13-of-19 in the second half. Kyle Rowe finished the day 10-of-25, while senior Rowland Pettit came in to spark the Blue Devils' fourth-quarter run with a pair of victories at the X.

In goal, Danny Fowler played 53 minutes and made seven stops for the Blue Devils. Alex Ready had nine in the win for the Pioneers.

Duke is back in action on the road next Saturday, Feb. 27 at Jacksonville. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m.

#GoDuke