Duke Welcomes Virginia in ACC Regular Season Finale

4/14/2017 12:49:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

Game 13
No. 9 Duke (9-3, 2-1) vs. No. 18 Virginia (8-5, 0-3)
April 15, 2017 | 1 PM | ACC Network Extra
Durham, N.C. | Koskinen Stadium

ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | Twitter

Setting the Scene

Duke is 9-3 overall and 2-1 in ACC play after a commanding 11-8 victory over No. 3 Notre Dame.
The Blue Devils are ranked ninth nationally on the strength of their recent 7-1 stretch.
Virginia is 9-3 overall and 0-3 against ACC foes. The Cavaliers are 2-5 against top-20 opponents.

The Series History

Duke and Virginia are meeting for the 81st time. The Cavaliers are in full control of the series 50-30, but the Blue Devils own recent history with a 15-1 mark since 2007.
The Blue Devils have not lost to Virginia in the regular regular season since 2004.
Duke wins by an average of five goals per game in this 15 victories.

Tale of the Tape

Category	Duke	Virginia
Shots/Game	36.4	47.2
Goals/Game	12.50	14.92
Assists/Game	7.92	9.69
Points/Game	20.4	24.6
Shot%	.343	.316
GAA	7.99	12.38
GBs/Game	28.41	45.23
EMO	14-31 (.452)	22-45 (.489)
Man Down	24-33 (.727)	33-50 (.660)
Clears	187-214 (.874)	247-273 (.905)
Faceoff %	155-289 (.536)	218-402 (.542)

By the Numbers
4,746 – Days since Virginia beat Duke in a regular season game - dating back to April 17, 2004
24.2 – Average number of combined goals in the past 16 meetings between Duke and Virginia - seven of which have resulted in at least a combined 25 goals
1 – Points needed for junior Justin Guterding to reach 200 career points, the 13th Blue Devil to achieve the feat
2.75 – Goals per game average for Jack Bruckner, the best in the ACC and 12th nationally
7.32 – Goals against average for senior goaltender Danny Fowler during Duke's 7-1 stretch
.660 – Fowler's save percentage in his two outings against Virginia
47.2 – Shots per game average for Virginia in 2017
30.4 – Shots per game average for Duke's opponents in 2017
14.92 – Goals per game for the Cavaliers - netting at least 10 in 12 of 13 games
8.00 – Duke opponents' goals per game average with the Blue Devils allowing 10-plus goals in three games

Military Appreciation Day

Saturday's game against the Cavaliers will be Military Appreciation Day and will feature a silent auction to benefit the Lead the Way Fund. Duke will auction off all 42 game-worn camouflage helmets and one helmet autographed by the entire Blue Devil squad. Bidding for the game-worn helmets starts at $150, while the autographed helmet begins at $250. All items will be available Saturday and must be paid for in cash or check.
The Lead the Way Fund has a special place in the Blue Devil family as it was founded in memory of former Blue Devil Jimmy Regan. A four-year letterwinner at Duke and exemplary scholar-athlete, Regan was killed in action while serving with the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in northern Iraq in 2007. The Blue Devils honor Regan and his sacrifice in every game wearing JR10 on the back of their helmets. To learn more about Lead the Way visit http://www.leadthewayfund.org.

Last Time Out

Jack Bruckner scored four goals and Danny Fowler made 10 saves to lead No. 10 Duke to an 11-8 home victory over No. 3 Notre Dame last weekend.
Thanks to a pair of goals by Bruckner, Duke jumped out to a 5-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter and maintained its two-tally cushion, 6-4, heading into the locker room. Bruckner registered three of Duke's six first-half goals, while rookies Kevin Quigley and Reilly Walsh had one apiece.
Fowler responded with five saves in the third period to spark the Duke offense as the Blue Devils claimed a 10-5 lead entering the final quarter. The senior goaltender spearheaded a Duke defense that blanked Notre Dame's man-advantage offense in four attempts and holding the Irish to just 19 shots in the first three quarters.
For Notre Dame, Ryder Garnsey, Mikey Wynne and Sergio Perkovic tallied two goals each while goalkeepers Shane Doss (7 saves & 6 goals allowed in 36:14) and Owen Molloy (2 saves & 5 goals allowed in 23:46) shared time in the Irish net.

Last Time We Met

Deemer Class scored five goals and Myles Jones added six points on two goals and four assists to lead the 13th-ranked Blue Devils to a 14-8 victory over Virginia in Charlottesville in 2016.
Duke and Virginia traded leads in the opening half before heading into the break knotted at five apiece. Trailing 5-3, Duke went on a 4-0 run to regain the 7-5 lead and used another 4-1 stretch to pull away 11-7 en route to the 14-8 victory.
In the Duke goal, Danny Fowler posted 13 saves. His counterpart, Virginia's Matt Barrett, posted 10 saves in defeat.
Three different Cavaliers recorded three points with James Pannell and Greg Coholan having two goals and an assist.

Scouting Virginia

Virginia enters its regular season ACC finale with an 8-5 overall record and 0-3 mark in ACC play. The Cavaliers are coming off of a 13-7 victory over Robert Morris. Their three ACC losses have been by a total of 5 goals with the setbacks to Syracuse and Notre Dame being decided by a single score.
Michael Kraus headlines the offense with 54 points from 33 goals and 21 assists. Zed Williams owns 48 points (23g, 25a), while Mike D'Amario rounds out the 40-point group with 29 goals and 11 assists. Overall, Virginia is averaging 14.92 goals per game and has failed to score 10 goals in a game just once - an 8-7 in over Richmond.
Spearheading the Cavaliers' defensive effort is Scott Hooper with 32 caused turnovers and 36 ground balls. Jason Murphy has taken the majority of faceoffs, winning 132-of-237 (.557) and picking up 29 ground balls. Luke Bugel is 73-of-131 at the X with 33 ground balls.
In goal, Griffin Thompson and Will Railey have split time. Thompson has played the full 60 minutes in the past three games. Overall he owns an 11.86 goals against average and a .506 save percentage. Railey is giving up 12.96 goals per game and has a .448 save percentage.

Duke's Dominance over Virginia

Since 2007, Duke has displayed a somewhat inexplicable dominance over Virginia. The Blue Devils are 15-1 against the Cavaliers under head coach John Danowski, with the lone loss coming in the 2010 ACC Semifinal.
Seven of the 15 wins have come by at least five goals with the average margin of victory overall being 5.36 goals. Duke has not lost to Virginia in the regular season since April 17, 2004.

A Win over Virginia Would

Be head coach John Danowski's 380th career win
Be the program's 550th overall victory and 54th conference win
Make Duke 182-177 all-time in the month of April
Be Duke's fifth top-20 win of the year

10 Goals Key against Virginia

Virginia traditionally features one of the nation's top scoring offenses so it's no secret that scoring 10 goals is crucial to winning. Of Duke's seven losses to the Cavaliers since 2000, the Blue Devils failed to score in double digits in five of them.
Of Duke's 18 wins over Virginia since 2000, the Blue Devils have scored 10-plus goals in 17 of them.
Since 2007, the two teams have played high-scoring affairs, averaging a combined 24.2 goals in the 16 games. They scored a series-high 35 combined goals in 2013.

Home Sweet Home for the Blue Devils

Duke has fared well in the comfy confines of Koskinen Stadium since 2007. The Blue Devils went 5-3 in Durham last season and are 94-16 all-time at home under John Danowski.

Blue Devils vs. Virginia

Only three Blue Devils have played in all three previous games against Virginia and 17 Duke players in all have seen action versus the Cavaliers.
Jack Bruckner is the top scorer with 10 goals, seven of which game in 2015. Danny Fowler sports a .660 save percentage and 8.07 goals against average in his two outings.

Player	GP	G	A	P	GBs	CTs	FO
Tommy Zenker	3	0	1	1	1	-	-
Jack Bruckner	3	10	0	10	4	-	-
Ian Yanulis	3	-	-	-	2	-	-
Justin Guterding	2	3	5	8	4	1	-
Ethan Powley	2	-	-	-	4	1	-
Brian Dunne	2	-	-	-	5	1	-
Greg Pelton	2	-	-	-	2	-	-
David Gill	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jake Seau	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Peter Welch	1	-	-	-	2	-	-
Tripp Transou	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
Brad Smith	1	-	-	-	1	1	-
Garrett Van de Ven	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Teddy Henderson	1	-	-	-	1	-	1-3
Matthew Giampetroni	1	-	-	-	1	-	-
Kyle Rowe	2	-	-	-	9	-	12-25
John Prendergast	1	-	-	-	-	-	-

Gaolie	Minutes	GA	Svs	GBs	GAA	SV%
Danny Fowler	119:00	16	31	4	8.07	.660

What Gives?

Virginia enters Saturday's game with the nation's No. 2 scoring offense, averaging 14.92 goals per game. The Cavaliers also are second in points per game (24.62) and assists per game (9.69) and lead the country in ground balls per game (45.23).
On the other end of the field, Duke sports the nation's No. 9 defense, sporting a team goals against average of 7.99. The Blue Devils have allowed 10-plus goals just twice and not since the 14-9 setback to Denver in February. The Blue Devils are holding teams to a .263 shooting percentage in 2017.

Improved Defensive Discipline

Perhaps the most glaring difference in the statistics for Duke during this 7-1 stretch is the lack of penalties committed by the Blue Devils. In its first four games of the season, Duke was whistled for 16 penalties for 11:30, allowing 15 man-up chances for its opponents.
In the past eight games, the Blue Devils have been sent to the penalty box only 18 times for 15:30, giving foes 18 extra-man opportunities.
That averages out to around two penalties and approximately two minutes per game in the past eight games compared to four penalties and nearly three minutes per game in the first four outings.

Top 20 Opponent Scoring Droughts

In each of their four ranked victories this season, the Blue Devils have clamped down on defense. Duke has held each of the four opponents to fewer than 10 goals and has held all four teams to at least one 10-minute scoreless stretch during the game and three of the four without a goal for 15-plus minutes. Duke has outscored the teams by at least 3-0 in each of the opponents' scoring droughts.

Opponent	Drought	Duke Run
Notre Dame	11:56	3-0
	11:08	4-0
North Carolina	17:56	3-0
	15:07	5-0
Loyola	22:32	5-0
Richmond	15:02	4-0

Top Scoring Attack Lines

The trio of Guterding, Bruckner and Joey Manown is one of the highest scoring attack units nationally both this season and in overall combined career points.
Duke's trio is third in the nation in scoring this season with 129 points (83g, 46a), 12 behind leader Albany's 141.
On the career list, Guterding, Bruckner and Manown top the list. Bolstered by 376 points from Guterding and Bruckner, the trio has amassed 402 points on 277 goals and 125 assists to lead current attack units. Bruckner and Guterding's 376 points alone rank second behind the Terrapin trio.
The trio has been particularly effective since being solidified as the starting attack against Loyola March 11. The group has combined for 67 points (46g, 21a), accounting for 55 percent of the team's points in the 5-1 stretch. All three are shooting over 38 percent in that span with Bruckner and Guterding leading the way at .450 and .405, respectively.

Duke's Defense in Past 8 Games

In seven of the past eight games, Duke has held its opponent to eight or fewer goals and to a .300 or lower shooting percentage. The lone exception was against No. 5 Syracuse - the Orange shot .364.
In the Blue Devils' 7-1 stretch, Duke is allowing just 7.36 goals per game and holding teams to .253 shooting.
Fowler is averaging 8.88 saves per game and owns a 7.32 goals against average and a .563 save percentage. He has stopped at least 50 percent of shots faced in seven of the past eight games and posted double digit saves in four of them.

Against Ranked Opponents

Since 2006, Duke is 98-49 (.667) versus ranked opponents.
In 2017, Duke is 4-3 against top 20 foes and has two remaining on the regular season schedule.

Duke in the Month Of April

Duke is 181-177 all-time in the month of April.
The Blue Devils are 41-11 (.788) in the month under head coach John Danowski.

Reaching the Perfect 10

Since 2007, Duke is 142-18 when scoring at least 10 goals in a game.
The Blue Devils are 14-30 when being held to fewer than 10 scores.
Duke is 40-41 when allowing 10 goals in a contest and 115-7 when holding opponents under 10 goals.

Duke in One Goal Games

Duke is 76-69 all-time in games decided by one goal in program history.
The Blue Devils played a program-high seven one-goal games in both 1994 and 1997.
Duke is 19-13 in one-goal contests under head coach John Danowski.
The Blue Devils are 7-4 in one-goal games against Virginia.

Fowler Hitting His Stride

Duke goaltender Danny Fowler is hitting his stride as the Blue Devils hit the midway point of the regular season.
Fowler has stopped at least 50 percent of shots in seven of the past eight games after registering a save percentage below .500 in three of the first four games. He has double digit saves in five games this season, including the season-high 14 against Loyola.

Guterding Going for 200

Junior Justin Guterding left his name in the Duke records book twice in 2016, becoming the fastest Blue Devil to 100 career points and the first player to score 70 points in each of his first two seasons.
He is on pace for 81 points this season as he aims to tie Zack Greer as the fastest Blue Devil to reach 200 career points. He needs just one point Saturday.

Up Next

The Blue Devils travel to Milwaukee to take on BIG EAST foe Marquette next Saturday. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET).
The game will be aired on CBS Sports Network.
The game will be the Headstrong Game, benefitting the Headstrong Foundation.

#GoDuke