Despite a late surge in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers could not catch up to the Duke Blue Devils, who were able to hang on for a 15-13 win in front of a sold-out Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Duke improved to 2-1 on the season while Denver fell to 1-1. The Pioneers dropped to no. 13 in the polls as a result with Duke rising to no. 10.
Denver and Duke traded goals in the opening five minutes of the first quarter, with the Pioneers leading 2-1 after goals from junior midfielder Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) and senior attack Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario). Duke then went on a 6-0 run with 2 goals coming from Dyson Williams to close the first period with a 7-2 lead.
In the second quarter, after an unassisted goal from Owen Caputo at 10:42, Hannah scored 2 more goals at 9:08 and 6:15 to cut Duke’s lead to three. Both teams then scored 2 more goals of their own to give the Blue Devils a 10-6 advantage going into the third quarter.
The third quarter was the lowest-scoring quarter of the game, with just 5 goals between the two teams. Freshman goaltender Jack Thompson (Castle Rock, Colo.) stepped in for the second half, replacing sophomore Cole French (Danville, Calif.) after he allowed 10 goals in the first half. Each team added one to the scoreboard in the first half of the quarter, with Denver’s goal coming from Walker, before Duke added 2 more unassisted goals at 7:13 and 1:44. Hannah had his 5th goal of the game with four seconds remaining in the quarter to make the score 13-8.
The Pioneers finally got into a rhythm in the final quarter, scoring 5 goals to Duke’s 2, but it was not enough to take over the lead. Hannah scored his 6th goal of the game with 12 seconds remaining in the game to secure a sock trick. This is just the 21st time in DU men’s Division I lacrosse history where a single player has accumulated 6 goals.
Both teams collected 4 penalties each throughout the game. Duke won the faceoff battle, winning 18 to Denver’s 13.
Denver will stay home this weekend to host the Faceoff Classic, which will feature Air Force, Cleveland State, and St. Bonaventure.
