No. 5 Duke Pulls Away in Third Quarter for 11-6 Win Against Penn

Sunday, March 2

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

5-1

Penn

2-3

PENN

Duke University

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 5 Duke Pulls Away in Third Quarter for 11-6 Win Against Penn

3/2/2025 4:54:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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DURHAM, N.C. – Fifth-ranked Duke outscored Penn, 6-0, in the third quarter and held the No. 14 Quakers to a single goal in the second half en route to an 11-6 victory in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Koskinen Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Trailing, 5-4, at halftime, Duke (5-1) scored the game's next six goals to open up a 10-5 advantage after three quarters. The Blue Devils kept the Quakers off the board for 25:24 in the second half and for 25:45 overall spanning three quarters.

Three different Blue Devils had two goals apiece with Eric Malever and Benn Johnston both finishing with two goals and two assists. Patrick Jameison, after making just two saves in the first 30 minutes, had seven stops in the second half. Aidan Maguire continued his stellar defensive season with three caused turnovers.

How it Happened

Penn scored the game's first two goals as the Quakers held the Blue Devils without a goal for the first 8:02. Jack Pappendick, starting at attack for the first time this season, threw in a pass from Johnston to make it 2-1 after the opening 15 minutes.
Luke Grayum tied the score early in the second with a behind-the-back shot on a pass from Malever.
The back-and-forth continued for the next 10 minutes with Penn getting goals from Casey Mulligan and Griffin Scane to put the lead back to two, 4-2, with 4:25 left in the first half.
Malever pulled it back within one on a solo effort at the 3:23 mark and Andrew McAdorey connected on man-up with 90 seconds left to tie the game for the second time of the afternoon.
Penn capped the first half with a Leo Hoffman goal with 21 ticks on the scoreboard, heading into the locker room with a 5-4 advantage.
Following an offside penalty in the final second of the first half, Duke went on man-up to start the third quarter. Johnston was the beneficiary this time on a pass from linemate Max Sloat to tie the game, 5-5.
Johnston added another goal less than two minutes later while Sloat, Liam Kershis, Malever and Grayum each found the back of the cage to extend Duke's lead to 10-5 with one quarter remaining. Five of Duke's six goals in the period were assisted with Sloat providing two dimes.
Defensively in the third quarter, Duke forced Penn into four turnovers and held the Quakers to six shots. At the faceoff dot, the Blue Devils won 4-of-6 to control possession for much of the period. Jameison had four saves in the stanza.
Sophomore longstick midfielder Mac Christmas struck again for the Blue Devils early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach for the Quakers. Penn ended its scoreless drought at 25:45 with a Cam Rubin goal with 4:36 to play.
Penn goaltender Emmett Carroll made 13 saves, including eight in the first half. The Quakers went 12-of-20 at the faceoff while Duke won the ground ball battle, 30-16. Charlie Johnson had a game-high six ground balls to go with his two caused turnovers.

Team Notes

Duke improves to 2-1 against top 20 opponents this season and to 139-62 against ranked foes under head coach John Danowski.
Penn's scoring drought of 25:45 is the longest by a Duke opponent this season and the third time this year the Blue Devils have held the opposition without a goal for at least 20 minutes.
Duke held its opponent without a goal in a quarter for the first time this season.
Duke improves to 8-7 against Penn overall and 6-3 in games played in Durham. The five-goal margin is the largest since the Blue Devils beat the Quakers, 17-7, in 2019.
The Blue Devils move to 153-28 at home since 2007.
Duke's nine turnovers were the fewest this season by the Blue Devils and the first time under double-digit giveaways.

Coach and Player Notes

John Danowski moves to 477-220 all-time and 258-81 at Duke.
Mac Christmas scored for a fifth straight game and has six goals on the season. The six markers are the most since CJ Costabile had seven in 2012.
Duke's starting attack unit had five goals and two assists for seven of the 19 points. The first midfield added four goals and four assists.
Andrew McAdorey had one goal to give him 98 for his career, leaving him two shy of becoming the 24th Blue Devil to reach 100. He has 154 carer points.
Max Sloat had two assist to give him nine for the season – one more than he had in 19 games last year. He has an assist in every game and has multiple helpers in each of the past two.
Aidan Maguire forced three turnovers against the Quakers, pushing him to 15 on the year – matching his total in 19 games last year. He has at least three caused turnovers in three games this season and has 40 for his career – ranking 10th on the Duke career chart.
Close defenseman Charlie Johnson finished his day with two caused turnovers and a career-high six ground balls. He has at least one caused turnover in every game this season and multiple in four outings.
Nikolas Menendez recorded his first collegiate stats, picking up two ground balls.
Duke's defense held Penn's starting attack unit to just three assists. The trio came into the game averaging 6.5 points per game (4.5 goals, 2 assists).