Monthly Archives: May 2009

Asack Dismissed From Team

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Redshirt senior Zack Asack has been dismissed from the Blue Devil program for a violation of team policy, the program announced in a press release Friday afternoon. No other details about the reason for Asack’s dismissal are available at this time.

Asack began his career for the Blue Devils at quarterback and started his freshman season, but he was suspended from the University for plagiarism and missed all of his sophomore year. In his absence, Thaddeus Lewis was given the starting nod at quarterback, and he has been the unquestioned starter ever since. Asack filled in for Lewis at the end of the 2008 season, when Lewis was injured.

Asack switched positions in the Spring, when head coach David Cutcliffe moved him to safety. Asack recorded four tackles in Duke’s Spring Game April 18.

Clemson’s Oglesby to Play in Europe

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Clemson sophomore Terrence Oglesby, a sophomore known for his outside shooting, announced that he is leaving the school to play professionally in Europe. 

Oglesby scored 17 points, including five 3-pointers, in Duke’s 74-47 loss to the Tigers in Littlejohn Coliseum last season. He averaged 13.2 points per game on the season. 

“It’s true that Terrence is leaving Clemson and the expectation that he’s signing with someone in Europe,” Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell said. “It hasn’t been finalized yet or he hasn’t gotten an agent. But he felt there were opportunities out there for him in either Spain or Italy.”

Looking forward to next season, the Tigers–who finished behind North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest and Florida State in the ACC standings last year–will be without their top two scoring guards. K.C. Rivers, who averaged 14.2 ppg, has graduated.

Trevor Booker, Clemson’s best inside player, will return to school, but Oglesby’s departure could change the balance of power in the ACC. For the Blue Devils, it could mean one less true rival in an already loaded conference. 

Clemson defeated Duke in the 2008 ACC Tournament semifinal, and again Feb. 4 in the aforementioned 27-point blowout.  The Tigers received a No. 7 seed to last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Crotty To Stay For 5th Year

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Ned Crotty, the ACC Player of the Year and Duke’s leading scorer in 2009, will use his fifth and final year of eligibility and return to the Blue Devils next season.

Crotty scored 23 goals and assisted on 53 others, recording an NCAA-leading 76 points. He won the Turnbull Award last week as the nation’s top attackman, and was a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist.

After the 2006 season was cancelled midway through the year because of the ongoing legal scandal, Duke’s players were granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA, which in effect did not count the 2006 season toward the players’ total of four years of athletic competition in one sport.

While Crotty has decided to spend an extra year in Durham, the team’s other seniors with a year of eligibility remaining have yet to decide on their futures. Only Brad Ross and Ryan McFadyen–both fifth-year seniors–were taken in the Major League Lacrosse draft last week. Ross was selected by the Toronto Nationals and McFadyen went to the Washington Bayhawks.

In the past, players like Matt Danowski and Tony McDevitt have taken advantage of the NCAA’s offer and played an extra season at Duke, and Zack Greer did the same at Bryant under former Duke head coach Mike Pressler this year. Some players, though, have chosen to pass up a fifth year to pursue other opportunities–for example, defenseman Dan Oppedisano graduated and took a job in finance in New York City instead of delaying his career and remaining in Durham.

Cecil Earns Place In Singles Title Match

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Fresh off winning a team championship with the Blue Devils Tuesday, freshman Mallory Cecil has a shot at another national title–an individual one.

Fifth-seeded Cecil decimated now-familiar Miami foe and No. 2 Julia Cohen 6-1, 6-0 to reach the final. The freshman also downed No. 3 Aurelija Miseviciute in the previous round and has not dropped a set since the singles tournament began. Cecil plays Miami’s 24th-ranked Laura Vallverdu for the women’s singles title Monday at 5 p.m. (ET).

Cecil previously traced her fabulous play to end this season to her first meeting with Cohen this year, when she was beaten in straight sets by the Miami No. 1. Cecil called that match a “slap in the face” and used it to buckle down and focus.

Since then, Cecil has gone 20-1, including a 15-match winning streak. On Sunday, the Bollettieri-trained rookie used strong groundstrokes and crisp net play to pick apart Cohen for her third emphatic win over the Hurricane sophomore in just over a month. With the victory, Cecil’s record stands at 31-4 on the season.

Only one Blue Devil in school history has taken home the national title, Vanessa Webb in 1998.

Update: The Final has been moved up to 12 p.m. (ET) Monday, as afternoon rain is expected in College Station, Texas.

Duke’s Season Ends in Final Four Again

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FOXBOROUGH, MA.—As it turned out, the third time was not the charm for No. 3 Duke.

In fact, it was arguably the worst time in its postseason history—ever.

Outshot, outsaved and outscored, the Blue Devils (15-4) never had an answer for No. 2 Syracuse (15-2) in their 17-7 defeat Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

The 17 goals allowed were the most since 2004—before head coach John Danowski was at Duke or anyone on the current roster. The 10-goal defeat was easily the worst loss of the year and also the biggest loss the program has suffered in the postseason.

“They punched us in the mouth early, give them credit for that,” attackman Max Quinzani said. “They didn’t allow us to have long possessions, and then we started running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”

Quinzani said the team didn’t even have time to figure out what the Orange was doing on defense in large part because when Duke did have the ball, it quickly lost it because of a forced turnover or sloppy offensive play.

On the offensive end, Syracuse seemingly took a page out of the Blue Devils’ offensive strategy as quick, penetrating passing led to easy shots mere feet in front of the net, a play perfected by Ned Crotty and various attack over the course of the year.

It did not always appear bleak for Duke early. In fact, near the end of the first quarter, the game was tied at two goals apiece.

In the last 35 seconds, however, the Orange struck twice, including a gut-wrenching shot with one second left that sailed over goalie Rob Schroeder’s shoulder for the 4-2 lead.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been behind in a game, so I think we began pressing a little bit,” Danowski said. “Everyone probably has a hand in this, but we won’t know until we look at the video which probably won’t happen until 2012 or 2013.”

LIVE BLOG: Duke vs. Syracuse – NCAA Semifinals

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Syracuse 14-7, 10:38: Quinzani added a nice goal from the left side of the net to complete his hat trick, but that might be the only thing worth highlighting on the day for Duke.

Syracuse 14-6, End of 3rd: This stat just announced should sum up Duke’s day–the 14 goals allowed are the most since April 3, 2004. That’s pre-John Danowski, pre-lax case, pre-everyone on the roster. Yikes.

Syracuse 14-6, End of 3rd: It is just not Duke’s day. The Blue Devils have set a new mark for most goals allowed in a game–and there’s still an entire period left to play. Syracuse’s goals have come on great passing and crashing the net with very few shots from too far out. The Orange have outshot Duke by 13 and with one period remaining, an eight-goal margin is an awful lot to come back from.

Syracuse 11-6, 5:46 3rd: Syracuse attackman Kenny Nims just scored for the Orange, but Syracuse’s Moulten followed up the goal with a 30-second pushing penalty. Duke was unable to capitalize, however, as the Orange scooped up a ground ball right near the end of the man-up period.

Syracuse 10-6, 6:50 3rd: Duke’s Max Quinzani just notched the Blue Devils’ second goal of the half with a nice ripped shot from the right of the cage, but offensive opportunities have been few and far between here in the second half. Syracuse has continued to dominate the ball and Duke will need to get out on the break to find opportunities as their sets have been continually stifled and disrupted this afternoon.

Syracuse 9-4, 14:48 3rd: Rough open to the second half for Duke, as Syracuse faceoff man Jake Moulton scoops up the ball off the faceoff and runs right up the middle of the field before ripping off a quick overhand shot that finds the net just moments after the opening whistle.

Syracuse 8-4, Half: And thus ends the first half for Duke. Everything that needs to be said has been said (Duke can’t finish, Syracuse getting the shots, etc.) so there are two ways to look at it: Syracuse is winning and will continue to do so, or Duke has gotten bad luck and when it shifts to its side, it will come back and win. I’d say that while the Blue Devils have not played up to their normal level, the Orange are probably a better team so if Duke is to win, it will need an extraordinary effort like the one it put up against Virginia in the ACC semifinal.

Syracuse 8-4, 1:14 2nd: Mike Manley almost had a sick coast-to-coast goal that would’ve brought Duke within three. “Almost,” however, has seemed to be the theme of the Blue Devils’ game today. The shot went wide as Manley got hit. Duke still has possession and is coming out of a timeout.

Syracuse 8-4, 4:13 2nd: A four goal lead, however, is not as easy to overcome. In the span of less than 30 seconds, Perritt completed his first-half hat trick with a wicked bounce shot about 15 feet away from the goal and Cody Jamieson added a goal over Schroeder’s shoulder off a spin move for the eighth goal of the day. Duke just called timeout to try and stem the Orange’s momentum.

Syracuse 6-4, 5:19 2nd: Syracuse just called timeout with the ball. Brad Ross scored seconds after the Orange went up by three in  a shot similar to Howell’s first goal. While Syracuse is still the better team so far, as any team can attest, a two goal lead is tenuous at best in a lacrosse game.

Syracuse 6-3, 7:28 2nd quarter: Missed opportunities. That has been the story of this period so far for Duke. One transition possession, too many passes results in a turnover. Another possession finds Howell wide open in front of the net, but he cannot get his shot off in time an the Syracuse defense closes in. Yet another transition possession resulted in a bad pass. Max Quinzani had a nice goal at the start of the period but otherwise the Orange have owned this game so far.

Syracuse 4-2, End 1st quarter: The end of the first quarter went about as well as the start–which is to say, not well at all. The game was tied until 35 seconds left when Syracuse midfielder Pat Perritt snuck a shot by goalie Rob Schroeder (he couldn’t have had more than half a foot to shoot on) and then Kenny Nims added a diving shot with less than a second left for the two goal advantage. It seems so far that the Orange’s D has done a great job in forcing sloppy play on Duke’s part. It’s not Johns Hopkins strategy, which was sit back and not allow a good shoot, but it seems to be working just as well in limiting the Blue Devils’ offense. Taking advantage of Syracuse’s overaggression is crucial for Duke to take the lead.

Game Tied 2-2, 4:32 1st: And just like that, Zack Howell says, “That’s the start we were looking for!”  The sophomore attackman has tallied each of Duke’s two goals, the first on a slingshot that got past goalie John Galloway in the top left corner and the second on a man-up play where he found himself wide open just feet away from the net. Howell’s second goal comes in large part because of the great individual effort of Parker McKee, who the previous play cleared the ball himself and drew a slashing penalty to get the man-up situation.

Syracuse 2-0, 7:13 1st quarter: Probably not the start Duke wanted to have. The Orange have reeled off two goals on ground balls and its defense has suffocated Duke, forcing numerous turnovers and not allowing many good looks, let alone scoring opportunities.

PREGAME: We’re coming to you LIVE from Gilette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots and the 2009 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship. The Blue Devils and Orange are just wrapping up their warmups while the stadium slowly fills up. Although the lower bowl is not full (possibly a result of the terrible traffic congestion outside), there are fans scattered throughout the upper deck, which would seem to indicate a big crowd today.

Some notes on the all-time Duke-Syracuse series. Syracuse leads the all-time series 4-1, with the two teams’ last meeting coming in the 2002 NCAA quarterfinals, where Syracuse won 10-9. Duke’s only win against the Orange came in 1978, when the Blue Devils prevailed 11-7.