HIGH POINT, N.C. –Duke graduate students
Sean Lulley and
Nakeie Montgomery combined for 13 points to lead the 10th-ranked Blue Devils to a hard-fought 18-14 victory at High Point in men's lacrosse action Tuesday night.
Lulley finished his night with eight points from five goals and three assists, matching his career high. Montgomery had a career-best five tallies, his second consecutive game with at least four, and freshman
Andrew McAdorey had a goal and three assists to push his season total to 21 after eight games.
Sophomore
Jake Naso was outstanding at the faceoff dot once again, winning 22-of-32 restarts, picking up 13 ground balls and scoring a crucial goal.
The Blue Devils move to 6-2 on the year while High Point drops to 2-3 overall.
The opening half was a game of runs between the Blue Devils and Panthers. High Point opened the game on a 3-0 run before Duke responded with four unanswered from four different players to grab its first lead of the game.
The trend continued throughout the second quarter with High Point scoring three goals in the final three minutes to take a 9-8 lead into the break.
Duke came out of the gates fast in the third quarter, tallying two goals in the first minute. Montgomery threw in a pass from McAdorey 49 seconds into the period and Lulley scrapped for a ground ball and put it past High Point goalie Parker Green for a 10-9 advantage.
High Point responded three minutes later to tie the game only to have the Blue Devils answer back with seven of the next nine goals for a 17-12 advantage they'd never relinquish.
Graduate student
Cameron Badour sparked the run with his second of the night, while Lulley and Montgomery had two apiece to cap the spurt. Junior
Dyson Williams had a quietly effective evening with three goals, his seventh hat trick of the season.
Asher Nolting led the Panthers with three goals and five assists, while Jack Sawyer had four goals and one assist. Only four of their combined 13 points came in the second half with Nolting being held without a goal in the final 30 minutes.
In goal,
Mike Adler finished with 11 saves, while Green had 14 stops. Duke outshot High Point 46-37 and had a slight 29-26 edge in ground balls.
Duke returns home to host No. 19 Richmond Saturday, March 5 at 12 p.m.
#GoDuke