No. 7 Duke Outlasts Saint Joseph’s, 11-9

Saturday, February 15

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

3-0

Saint Joseph's

0-2

Saint Joseph's

Duke University

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 7 Duke Outlasts Saint Joseph’s, 11-9

2/15/2025 5:12:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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DURHAM, N.C.—Duke longstick midfielder Mac Christmas scored a pair of goals and helped anchor a solid defensive effort in an 11-9 win over Saint Joseph's for the seventh-ranked Blue Devils in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Koskinen Stadium.

Christmas scored Duke's first goal and broke a 7-7 tie to close the third quarter to help the Blue Devils remain unbeaten on the year. He added three ground balls and a caused turnover in a stellar defensive performance. Christmas and company gave up four first-quarter goals and only five in the final 45 minutes.

Andrew McAdorey led all scorers with three goals while Eric Malever was the facilitator on the day with a goal and three assists. Luke Engelke gave Duke possession from the dot, winning 14-of-19 faceoffs and picking up 10 ground balls.

How it Happened

Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 4-2 lead after the first quarter. The Hawks used a 3-0 run over a span of 3:29 in the first period to take early control of the game. The teams traded goals 20 seconds apart in the final two minutes, leaving the Blue Devils down after the opening stanza for the first time this season.
Duke flipped the script in the second quarter thanks to Engelke's faceoff success. The junior specialist went 6-for-6 in the period as the Blue Devils went on a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead late in the third. Junior Max Sloat started the spurt with an unassisted tally after beating his man to the cage. Luke Grayum, Malever and McAdorey added markers while the Blue Devils' defense kept the Hawks off the board for 13:08.
Griffin Mallory ended the drought for Saint Joseph's at the 3:44 mark and the Hawks kept Duke off the board for the final 8:53, cutting Duke's lead to 6-5, at the half.
Duke's scoring drought continued into the first half of the third frame as Saint Joseph's tied the score, 6-6, with a goal at 9:21.
McAdorey lit a fire under the Blue Devils minutes later with his second of the afternoon, putting Duke in front again, 7-6.
Ben Dutton responded with his second tally of the day for Saint Joseph's, but just over a minute later it was Christmas giving Duke the lead for good. The sophomore pole corralled a loose ball after Jake Wilson forced a Hawk turnover and fired home his second of the day to ignite the Duke bench.
Freshman Liam Kershis extended Duke's lead to 9-7 50 seconds into the fourth quarter and Benn Johnston scored on man-up seven minutes later for the Blue Devils' largest lead of the afternoon.
Saint Joseph's tried to make the comeback late, but the Blue Devils locked down on defense to post the 11-9 victory.
In goal, Patrick Jameison made a season-best 11 saves and picked up two ground balls. Charlie Johnson continued his stellar start to the season with three caused turnovers while shortstick middie Aidan Maguire had two caused turnovers, three ground balls and an assist.

Duke Player and Coach Notes

John Danowski captured his 475th career win. He is 475-219 in his 42 seasons as a head coach with 256 of those coming at Duke. He is three victories shy of becoming just the second coach in any division to reach 478 wins.
Sophomore Mac Christmas posted his first career multiple-goal game and picked up a career-best three ground balls. Christmas is the first Blue Devil pole to score multiple goals in a game since CJ Costabile had two goals against North Carolina in the NCAA quarterfinal, May 22, 2010. In three games this season, he has three goals, seven ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Junior Aidan Maguire recorded an assist, giving him at least one point in every game this season. He has picked up at least three ground balls and forced at least two turnovers in each of Duke's three outings.
Andrew McAdorey registered his first hat trick of the season and the 12th of his career. He has 145 career points from 92 goals and 53 assists. He needs eight more goals to become the 24th Blue Devil to reach 100.
Eric Malever had four points from a goal and three assists – marking the third straight game he has had at least four points.
Luke Engelke won a career-high 14 faceoffs and picked up a career-best 10 ground balls. His 19 faceoffs attempted were also the most in his career. The 10 ground balls are three less than his career total heading into the game.
Patrick Jameison recorded his 13th career double-digit save performance with 11 stops in 60 minutes.

Duke Team Notes

Six of Duke's goals came from midfielders, two from Christmas at LSM and the remaining three from the attack trio of Liam Kershis, Eric Malever and Luke Grayum.
Defensively, Duke held Saint Joseph's without a goal for a span of 13:08 in the first and second quarters – the third straight game the Blue Devils have held an opponent to 10-plus minute scoring drought.
Duke improved to 2-0 at home this season and to 87-20 in Durham under head coach John Danowski.

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