Total Team Effort Pushes Duke Past No. 8 Penn, 14-12

Saturday, February 25

Philadelphia, Pa.

1 p.m.

Duke University

4-1

Pennsylvania

1-1

Duke University

Penn

Total Team Effort Pushes Duke Past No. 8 Penn, 14-12

2/25/2023 6:05:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

PHILADELPHIA—Tenth-ranked Duke outscored No. 8 Penn 6-1 in the second quarter and held off a second-half charge to come away with a thrilling, 14-12, victory over the Quakers in men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.

Duke (4-1) was outstanding on both ends of the field all afternoon. Nine different Blue Devils scored goals in the victory, while Duke held Penn to just 12 goals on 56 shots. Brennan O'Neill led all scorers with five points (2g, 3a), while Andrew McAdorey had three goals and an assist. Dyson Williams also had a hat trick. William Helm made 19 saves in goal to anchor a superb all-around defensive effort from the Blue Devils.

How it Happened

McAdorey opened the scoring for the Blue Devils just over eight minutes into the game, dipping and dodging his way to the cage for his 11th goal of the season.
Coming out of the first-quarter media timeout, it was captain Wilson Stephenson tying the game with a bouncer past Emmet Carroll for his first career goal on just his second career shot. Stephenson had a spectacular performance, recording six ground balls, four caused turnovers and adding a goal, while holding Penn leader Sam Handley to just a goal and two assists.
Duke was excellent defensively in the first quarter, holding Penn without a goal for the final 9:58 of the period. Helm made five saves in the frame as the Blue Devils forced six turnovers.
McAdorey gave Duke its first lead of the game, 3-2, at the 12:56 mark of the second quarter. The Blue Devils continued to roll on both ends of the field, adding five more over the span of 8:11 for an 8-2 advantage.
Four different Blue Devils scored in that five-goal stretch, including a career-first for sophomore Jack Gray. O'Neill had a goal and assisted on two others in the spurt.
Penn scored with one second left in the quarter, ending a scoring drought at 24:57 to make it 8-3 at the break. Helm finished the half with nine saves.
Momentum shifted in Penn's favor in the third quarter after Duke scored twice to go up, 10-3. The Quakers responded with four unanswered over the final 5:31 to make it a 10-7 contest headed into the final period. Penn fired 16 shots in the period and held the Blue Devils to only eight. Penn held a 5-2 advantage at the faceoff dot in the third session.
Duke extended its lead back to four thanks to goals from McAdorey and Garrett Leadmon in the fourth quarter, but the Quakers refused to go away, scoring three of the next four to bring it back within two, 13-11, with 5:35 to play.
With under five minutes to play, Leadmon found Aidan Danenza for a strike to go back up by three, 14-11.
Penn's Cam Rubin scored with 2:20 left in the game to make it 14-12. The Quakers won the ensuing faceoff, but a huge interception by Tyler Carpenter with 52 seconds left iced the victory for the Blue Devils. Carpenter finished his afternoon with seven ground balls, a caused turnover and an assist.
Jake Naso was outstanding yet again at the faceoff dot, winning 18-of-29 and picking up eight ground balls.
Rubin led the Quakers with three goals and two assists for five points. Dylan Gergar had three goals and one assist. Carroll had 10 saves in 60 minutes of action.

Notes

The 14-12 victory marks the first time Duke has beaten Penn in Philadelphia. The Blue Devils are now 1-3 on the Quakers' home turf.
Wilson Stephenson recorded career-highs in ground balls (6) and caused turnovers (4). His goal was the first of his career and just the second career shot the graduate student has taken.
Jack Gray and Ryan Mackenzie also notched their career-first tallies to help the Blue Devils secure the two-goal win.
Brennan O'Neill had at least five points for the fourth time this season and for the 15th time in his career. Dyson Williams notched his 22nd career hat trick.
William Helm made a career-high 19 saves for a .613 save percentage. He had a season-high six saves in the fourth quarter.
Jake Naso pushed his career faceoff total to 549, leaving him 51 away from becoming the second Blue Devil in program history to reach 600 in his career. He is now 46-26 in faceoffs in the fourth quarter of games decided by two goals or less.
Duke improves to 125-55 against top-25 opponents since 2007.