No. 5 Duke Opens 2020 Campaign Saturday

Saturday, February 1

Durham, N.C.

2:00 PM

Duke University

Air Force

Nakeie Montgomery and CJ Carpenter celebrate

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 5 Duke Opens 2020 Campaign Saturday

1/31/2020 5:10:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes ACC Network Live Stats ACCN FAQ

The Blue Devils Face Off Against Air Force on ACC Network

Faceoff is set for 2 p.m., on ACC Network. Parking is free and is in the grounds lot located off of NC 751 and Science Drive. For those coming to the Furman vs. Bucknell contest, parking will be at the Science Drive Parking Garage at 3100 Cameron Blvd.
Duke Stores will be on site all season and will be selling both adult and youth Nike Duke Lacrosse apparel. Credit cards and cash are accepted at the tent that will be at the gate as you arrive.
Admission is free for North Carolina high school coaches. Simply bring your North Carolina coaching ID to the ticket booth to get a ticket.

USILA PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS

The final preseason honors rolled out Friday morning from the USILA. Senior defenseman JT Giles-Harris and junior midfielder Nakeie Montgomery garnered first and second team recognition, respectively. Giles-Harris is a consensus first-team All-American heading into 2020.

SETTING THE SCENE

Duke opens the 2020 season ranked fifth by the coaches and seventh in the Inside Lacrosse poll. The Blue Devils are coming off of advancing to the NCAA semifinal before losing to Virginia in double overtime.
Head coach John Danowski is in his 14th season as the leader of the Blue Devils and has the most victories of any Division I coach with 412.
Saturday's game is the first of eight regular season home games.

THE SERIES HISTORY

Duke and Air Force are meeting for the 12th time overall. The Blue Devils lead the series 7-4, but are only 3-2 against the Falcons since 2014. Air Force defeated Duke in the 2017 season opener, 11-10.
The Blue Devils own the most recent victory in 2018, an 18-4 win against a depleted Air Force roster.

2020 By the Numbers

29 – Consecutive games Joe Robertson has scored a point

100 – Career points for senior attackman Joey Manown

11-2 – Duke's record in season openers under head coach John Danowski

113-22 – The Blue Devils' record on their home field since 2007

30 – Goals needed for Joey Manown to become the 21st Blue Devil to reach 100 career goals

244 – Career games played between Duke's top seven returning midfielders

11.27 – Air Force's goals scored per game average in 2019

9.61 – Duke's scoring defense, the best in the ACC and ranking seventh nationally

8 – Of Duke's regular season opponents ranked in the USILA top 20

5 – Senior Blue Devils who have played all 56 games in their careers - JT Giles-Harris, Terry Lindsay, Sean Lowrie, Kevin Quigley, Reilly Walsh

13 – Newcomers to the program, 11 freshmen and two graduate student transfers

53-26 – Duke's record in season openers since the program started in 1938

GAME WEEK IS HERE

Game week has finally arrived. The Blue Devils are among 24 teams scheduled to open the year Feb. 1. This is the earliest Duke has opened a lacrosse season, beating last year's Feb. 2 start by one day.
Duke is 62-15 in the month of February and 37-14 under head coach John Danowski.

SEASON OPENER NOTES

The Blue Devils are facing Air Force in the first game of the season for the third time, going 1-1 in the previous two meetings. Overall, Duke is 11-2 in season-openers under Danowski with setbacks to Denver in 2013 and Air Force in 2017.

DEFENDING HOME TURF

Koskinen Stadium has treated the Blue Devils well over the years, being the home to countless memorable moments.
Since 2007, Danowski teams are 113-22 at Koskinen, an 84 percent success rate. This year's group of seniors is 24-4 all-time in Durham.

LAST TIME WE MET

Duke and Air Force last played in 2018 with Justin Guterding providing the fireworks with three goals and seven assists for 10 points to guide Duke to an 18-4 win. Joe Robertson, Reilly Walsh, Joey Manown and Sean Lowrie all chipped in two goals apiece. Turner Uppgren played 19 minutes and made four saves.
Air Force struggled offensively, scoring just once in the final 31:59 of the game.

LOOKING AT DUKE

Duke enters the season ranked both fifth and seventh in the trio of preseason polls. In the gauntlet that is the ACC, the Blue Devils were picked to finish fourth of five according to the league's head coaches.
The Blue Devils return a strong corps of players both offensively and defensively, including preseason All-American defenseman JT Giles-Harris. The senior captain led the team in caused turnovers last season and was a crucial piece to the talented group that held opponents to just 9.61 goals per game.
On offense, Duke welcomes back a wealth of experience as the top seven returning midfielders playing a total of 244 career games. Overall, 73 percent of last year's scoring remains on the 2020 roster.
? Duke will look to Jordan Ginder and Joe Stein for the faceoff duties this season. Ginder was 44-of-87 as a rookie and Stein went 27-of-49.
? In goal, senior Turner Uppgren is the starter and owns a 9.66 goals against average and a .503 save percentage.

SCOUTING AIR FORCE

Air Force enters the 2020 season picked to finish third in the Southern Conference behind Richmond and High Point. The Falcons won a share of the regular season crown last season with a 6-1 record.
Griffin Peene, Kyle Richbourg, Matthew Schwartz and Braden Host will captain the squad. Quentin Carlile garnered preseason all-conference honors in a vote of the Southern Conference coaches.
Top scorer Trey Lervick is back for his senior season after leading the Falcons with 36 goals and 53 points. Schwartz was second on the team with 31 points. In goal, Braden Host played all but 47 minutes last season, posting a 7.74 goals against average and a .513 save percentage.
Trent Harper, who won 67 percent of his faceoffs, graduated, leaving Ryan Lynch and Brian Michael to take over the duties. Lynch won 15-of-40 draws a year ago.

FRESHMAN RANKINGS BY INSIDE LACROSSE

Eight current Duke freshmen were ranked among the top 100 in Inside Lacrosse's rookie rankings. Close defenseman Kenny Brower tops the list at No. 2, while attackman Dyson Williams is third.
Jake Caputo, joining his brother Owen Caputo, is seventh. Will Frisoli comes in at No. 14 and Connor Drake, Tyler Carpenter and Cameron Henry are 37th, 49th, and 50th, respectively. Michael Swirbalus is 83rd.

MANOWN LATEST 100 CLUB MEMBER

With his goal in the 2019 NCAA semifinal against Virginia, Joey Manown notched his 100th career point, becoming the 47th Blue Devil to reach the benchmark.
Manown also is just 30 goals away from 100 career goals. He netted 26 last season.

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