Duke Pulls Away in Fourth Quarter for 11-7 Win over No. 5 Denver

Sunday, March 24

Severn, Md.

2 p.m.

Duke University

9-2

Denver

6-2

Duke University

Denver

Duke Pulls Away in Fourth Quarter for 11-7 Win over No. 5 Denver

3/24/2024 6:48:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

SEVERN, Md. – Third-ranked Duke outscored Denver, 4-1, in the final 4:14 to pull away for an 11-7 victory over the fifth-ranked Pioneers at Whittles Field at Archbishop Spalding High School Sunday afternoon. Senior Brennan O'Neill led all scorers with three goals.

Duke's first midfield of Benn Johnston, Max Sloat and Andrew McAdorey combined for four goals and three assists. Johnston and Sloat both had two goals and an assist in the win.

Defensively, the Blue Devils (9-2) held Denver (6-2) without a goal for the first 21:55 of the game and to just two in the first half.

How it Happened

Duke opened the scoring 1:15 into the game on a Johnston to Sloat combination. O'Neill and Danenza made it 3-0 with a pair of unassisted tallies over the next five minutes and the Blue Devil defense continued to suffocate the Pioneers for a 3-0 lead at the first break.
Sloat returned the favor to Johnston early in the second quarter as he found the rookie midfielder for his 12th goal of the season to put Duke ahead 4-0.
Denver got on the board midway through the second frame, ending the scoreless stretch at 21:55. The Pioneer defense turned the tables on the Blue Devils in the second quarter, holding Duke without a goal for the final 13:04.
Leading 4-1 heading into the third quarter, Duke's scoring drought continued as the Pioneers clawed their way within one, 4-3, at the 8:17 mark of the period.
Duke's skid came to an end at 22:42 when Sloat found Johnston again to make it 5-3 with 5:22 left in the period.
The Pioneers brought it back within one with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter, leaving the Blue Devils clinging to the 5-4 lead with 15 minutes to play.
Josh Zawada found Dyson Williams on the crease early in the fourth stanza and Sloat rifled home his second of the game to put Duke back in front, 7-4, with 8:09 remaining.
The high scoring pace continued as Denver responded with two unanswered to make it a one-goal game with 6:27 remaining in the period.
Duke locked in defensively down the stretch and shined on the offensive end, outscoring the Pioneers 4-1 in the final 4:14. O'Neill had two of the four goals, while Williams finished a man-up goal with 90 seconds left to ice the victory. O'Neill capped the 4-1 run with his third of the afternoon.
Patrick Jameison made nine saves and picked up two ground balls. Jake Naso won 10-of-20 faceoffs and collected five ground balls. Denver goalie Malcolm Kleban had 10 saves.

Notes

Tyler Carpenter, matched up with Denver's JJ Sillstrop, held the Pioneer attackman without a point for the first time since May 5, 2022 and for just the eighth time in his five-year career.
Brennan O'Neill registered his sixth hat trick of the season and the 35th of his career. O'Neill pushed his career goals total to 186 to move into fourth place in Duke history. He now has 279 career points. O'Neill has a goal in 39 straight games, registering 123 in that span.
Dyson Williams ties Jordan Wolf with 184 career goals and pushes his career points total to 206.
Jake Naso won 10 faceoffs to push his career total to 934. His five ground balls give him 523 for his career, leaving him three shy of the No. 8 spot on the NCAA career list.
The seven goals scored by Denver are the fewest scored by the Pioneers since they notched just five against Georgetown, May 6, 2023. Denver's .212 shot percentage is the lowest for the Pioneers this season and marks the eighth time Duke has held an opponent to 25 percent or less shooting in a game.
Duke held Denver's starting attack unit to just two points on two goals from Michael Lampert. The trio came in averaging 10.39 points per game with JJ Sillstrop at 3.86 and Lampert at 3.67.
The Blue Devils' man-down defense was excellent in holding Denver 0-for-3 in extra-man situations. Duke improves to .676 on man-down this season.

Up Next

Duke caps its busy March slate Wednesday, March 27 against Boston University. The Blue Devils and Terriers face off at 3 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's lacrosse, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMLAX".
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