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Danowski, O’Neill Garner ACC Awards; Duke Lands Four on All-ACC Team
5/9/2023 3:05:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
DURHAM – Duke men's lacrosse head coach John Danowski and junior attackman Brennan O'Neill are the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year, respectively, to headline the Blue Devils' 2023 ACC selections. Duke landed four overall on the 18-player team selected by the league's head coaches.
Joining O'Neill on the All-ACC squad are seniors Kenny Brower and Dyson Williams and junior Jake Naso. This is the third award for O'Neill, the second for Brower, while Williams and Naso garner recognition for the first time.
Danowski earns his fourth ACC Coach of the Year award and the first since 2012. He also captured the honor in 2007, 2011 and 2012. The wins leader among Division I head coaches with 456 career victories, Danowski has led the Blue Devils back to the top of the national rankings in 2023 after an 11-6 campaign in 2022. The staff of Danowski and assistant coaches Ron Caputo, Matt Danowski and Alex Ready helped lead the Blue Devils to their 10th ACC Championship overall and fifth under Danowski with a 5-1 record against conference foes. In his 17 years at Duke, Danowski is 236-73 (.764) and has won three national championships and advanced to Championship Weekend 11 times.
Duke's fourth ACC Offensive Player of the Year since the award was started in 2012, O'Neill headlines the Blue Devil attack with 80 points from 44 goals and 36 assists. He is just the eighth Blue Devil in program history to record at least 80 points in a season and currently ranks 13th on Duke's single-season chart.
The 2021 ACC Rookie of the Year, O'Neill averaged five points per game against ACC foes this season and was the only player in the conference to rank in the top five in goals and assists per game overall. In Duke's six ACC contests, the Bay Shore, N.Y., native recorded three hat tricks and two games with at least three assists. He is riding a 24-game goal streak and has eight hat tricks and 10 games with at least five points this season. O'Neill is the lone Division I player to rank in the top 20 in goals (2.93), assists (2.40) and points per game (4.33) average. For his career, O'Neill ranks 12th at Duke in points (209) and 11th in goals (142).
The anchor to Duke's close defense, Brower draws the opponent's top attackman every game. He ranks second on the team in caused turnovers (14) and is fourth among non-faceoff specialists in ground balls (29). In six ACC outings, Brower collected 11 ground balls and two caused turnovers while holding opponents under their scoring average in three of the six games. In the two games against Virginia, the Massapequa native held Virginia standout Connor Shellenberger to just six points (1g, 5a) for just a two points per game average. A starter in every game of his career, Brower has 46 career turnovers and is three away from climbing into the top five on the Duke career chart.
Williams garners his first ACC honor after leading the Blue Devils with 51 goals in the regular season. The Oshawa, Ontario native averaged 3.40 goals per game in ACC play, notching four hat tricks in the six outings, including six markers in the second victory over Syracuse. One of 10 Blue Devils to record at least 50 goals in a season, Williams ranks 12th in Duke single-season history. He has 10 hat tricks in the 15 games this season and 28 for his career. A starter at attack in 44 of his 55 games, the senior captain has 142 goals and 20 assists for 162 points. His 142 goals are tied for 11th in Duke history, while his 162 points are tied for 27th on the career list.
Duke's faceoff specialist for the past three seasons, Naso leads the ACC in faceoff percentage (.638), winning 254-of-398 restarts. Against ACC foes, the Holtsville, N.Y., native won 62 percent of the faceoffs and picked up 56 ground balls (9.33/gm). Naso has taken 91 percent of Duke's faceoffs this season and lined up at the dot for all but two in ACC action. He won at least 50 percent of his draws in 14 of the 15 games, including going 21-of-32 against All-American Petey LaSalla of Virginia. He also has five goals and three assists on the year.
Playing in 48 career games, Naso has 722 faceoff victories to lead all juniors and rank ninth among active players. He recently became the 32nd player in NCAA history to surpass 700 career faceoff wins and ranks 29th overall on the NCAA career chart. Ranking second in Duke history in faceoff victories, Naso needs just 94 wins to tie Brendan Fowler's Duke record of 816. Dangerous off the draw as well, Naso has 14 goals and seven assists for 21 points.
The top-seeded Blue Devils begin NCAA postseason play with first-round action Sunday, May 14 at 5 p.m. Duke will play the winner between Delaware and Marist at Koskinen Stadium. The winner advances to the NCAA quarterfinal in Albany, N.Y., May 20.
For more information on Duke men's lacrosse, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeMLAX.
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Joining O'Neill on the All-ACC squad are seniors Kenny Brower and Dyson Williams and junior Jake Naso. This is the third award for O'Neill, the second for Brower, while Williams and Naso garner recognition for the first time.
Danowski earns his fourth ACC Coach of the Year award and the first since 2012. He also captured the honor in 2007, 2011 and 2012. The wins leader among Division I head coaches with 456 career victories, Danowski has led the Blue Devils back to the top of the national rankings in 2023 after an 11-6 campaign in 2022. The staff of Danowski and assistant coaches Ron Caputo, Matt Danowski and Alex Ready helped lead the Blue Devils to their 10th ACC Championship overall and fifth under Danowski with a 5-1 record against conference foes. In his 17 years at Duke, Danowski is 236-73 (.764) and has won three national championships and advanced to Championship Weekend 11 times.
Duke's fourth ACC Offensive Player of the Year since the award was started in 2012, O'Neill headlines the Blue Devil attack with 80 points from 44 goals and 36 assists. He is just the eighth Blue Devil in program history to record at least 80 points in a season and currently ranks 13th on Duke's single-season chart.
The 2021 ACC Rookie of the Year, O'Neill averaged five points per game against ACC foes this season and was the only player in the conference to rank in the top five in goals and assists per game overall. In Duke's six ACC contests, the Bay Shore, N.Y., native recorded three hat tricks and two games with at least three assists. He is riding a 24-game goal streak and has eight hat tricks and 10 games with at least five points this season. O'Neill is the lone Division I player to rank in the top 20 in goals (2.93), assists (2.40) and points per game (4.33) average. For his career, O'Neill ranks 12th at Duke in points (209) and 11th in goals (142).
The anchor to Duke's close defense, Brower draws the opponent's top attackman every game. He ranks second on the team in caused turnovers (14) and is fourth among non-faceoff specialists in ground balls (29). In six ACC outings, Brower collected 11 ground balls and two caused turnovers while holding opponents under their scoring average in three of the six games. In the two games against Virginia, the Massapequa native held Virginia standout Connor Shellenberger to just six points (1g, 5a) for just a two points per game average. A starter in every game of his career, Brower has 46 career turnovers and is three away from climbing into the top five on the Duke career chart.
Williams garners his first ACC honor after leading the Blue Devils with 51 goals in the regular season. The Oshawa, Ontario native averaged 3.40 goals per game in ACC play, notching four hat tricks in the six outings, including six markers in the second victory over Syracuse. One of 10 Blue Devils to record at least 50 goals in a season, Williams ranks 12th in Duke single-season history. He has 10 hat tricks in the 15 games this season and 28 for his career. A starter at attack in 44 of his 55 games, the senior captain has 142 goals and 20 assists for 162 points. His 142 goals are tied for 11th in Duke history, while his 162 points are tied for 27th on the career list.
Duke's faceoff specialist for the past three seasons, Naso leads the ACC in faceoff percentage (.638), winning 254-of-398 restarts. Against ACC foes, the Holtsville, N.Y., native won 62 percent of the faceoffs and picked up 56 ground balls (9.33/gm). Naso has taken 91 percent of Duke's faceoffs this season and lined up at the dot for all but two in ACC action. He won at least 50 percent of his draws in 14 of the 15 games, including going 21-of-32 against All-American Petey LaSalla of Virginia. He also has five goals and three assists on the year.
Playing in 48 career games, Naso has 722 faceoff victories to lead all juniors and rank ninth among active players. He recently became the 32nd player in NCAA history to surpass 700 career faceoff wins and ranks 29th overall on the NCAA career chart. Ranking second in Duke history in faceoff victories, Naso needs just 94 wins to tie Brendan Fowler's Duke record of 816. Dangerous off the draw as well, Naso has 14 goals and seven assists for 21 points.
The top-seeded Blue Devils begin NCAA postseason play with first-round action Sunday, May 14 at 5 p.m. Duke will play the winner between Delaware and Marist at Koskinen Stadium. The winner advances to the NCAA quarterfinal in Albany, N.Y., May 20.
For more information on Duke men's lacrosse, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeMLAX.
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