Monthly Archives: May 2011

Live Blog: NCAA Semifinals: Duke-Maryland

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Final: Duke 4, Maryland 9

Thus ends the Blue Devils’ season.

0:30 in the 4th: Duke 4, Maryland 9

A huge portion of the crowd is headed for the exits after a Maryland timeout. To finish my thought from the previous post, the primary difference between the basketball team’s season-ending loss and this one is that this team’s key players, with a few notable exceptions, are much younger than the basketball team’s were. The starting attack featured two freshmen and a senior. The defensive unit started a freshman and a sophomore. The starting midfield had no starting seniors. While the basketball team loses three-fifths of its starting lineup this offseason, the majority of these Blue Devils will be back.

A couple of goals in garbage time have upped the score for both teams, but this was primarily a defensive struggle. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, poor offensive execution and failures on faceoffs meant that their defense had to do most of the struggling.

4:33 in the 4th: Duke 3, Maryland 8

There’s time left, but I’m just about ready to call this one over. Duke has not shown anything offensively today to suggest that it is capable of scoring five more goals—even if it won all the faceoffs. This game bears striking similarities to the basketball team’s season-ending loss to Arizona. In both games, Duke, the defending champion, went into a hostile environment and played well enough early to be up by a substantial margin. In both games, a spectacular individual performance kept the opponent in the game until it could stage a run. In both games, that run ignited the crowd and led to an onslaught as a normally potent Blue Devil offense went missing. If you watched Duke-Arizona, you watched this game.

10:47 in the 4th: Duke 3, Maryland 7

After yet another illegal procedure on the faceoff, Duke goes back on defense. Maryland’s Owen Bly puts one in after a stall warning was issued against Maryland. Defense hasn’t really been the problem for the Blue Devils today. Wolf, Duke’s second-leading scorer, has been totally absent today, and but for his one goal Howell hasn’t had much of an impact, registering only two shots.

End of the 3rd: Duke 3, Maryland 6

Duke wasted a Wigrizer save with a silly turnover and Maryland regained possession. But after collecting a ground ball on a shot off the side of the cage, Duke got a chance to cut the lead to two. But yet another turnover means the Blue Devils will head into the fourth down three. After showing signs of life early in the quarter, Duke’s momentum fell off. After the quarter ended, the officials issued a double penalty for some shoving after the whistle. There’s enough bad blood between these two teams that nobody from either team is going to take the outcome for granted yet.

4:30 in the 3rd: Duke 3, Maryland 6

Maryland takes possession off the faceoff and is now taking its time in the offensive zone. After maintainging possession on a shot off the crossbar, the Terrapins put a shot on net that Wigrizer manages to save. The Blue Devil man-up unit gets off only one shot and does not manage to score. Grant Catalino drops one in on an unsettled opportunity to reignite the home crowd. I realize that it’s not technically a home crowd, but effectively it is.

9:46 in the 3rd: Duke 3, Maryland 5

After Maryland tosses the ball out of the box while under stall warning, the Blue Devils take over, desperately looking for something to break Maryland’s stranglehold on the game. Finally, they do, as Zach Howell, Duke’s leader in goals and points, buries one in the back of the net

11:51 in the 3rd: Duke 2, Maryland 5

Charlie Payton takes, and wins, the opening faceoff after Greg DeLuca and Brendan Fowler combined to go 3-for-9 at the X in the first half. This possession will be crucial for the Blue Devils. After Rotanz corrals a looseball following a bad pass, he misses a wide open Christian Walsh in front of  the net on an unsettled play. That’s certainly a play they’d like to have back. Now Maryland has the ball once again and is running their offense.

HALFTIME: Duke 2, Maryland 5

Following the man-down situation, Duke actually started to show a bit more fire. Maryland’s Amato has been terrific between the pipes, and has negated any dangerous opportunities that the Duke attack has been able to generate. Down three goals with potentially only one half remaining in the season, the Blue Devils are going to have to execute on both ends if they hope to power past the Terrapins. Numerous times, Duke has simply looked sloppy in securing ground balls, and the Terrapins have taken advantage. After splitting four faceoffs in the first quarter, Maryland won four of five faceoffs in the second and turned those wins immediately into goal-scoring chances.

2:15  in the 2nd: Duke 2, Maryland 5

After a Duke timeout, Maryland’s Joe Cummings scores from near point-blank range. Holmes wins the ensuing faceoff. For Duke fans, this game is quickly turning into a nightmare. Maryland has all the momentum and the Blue Devils aren’t showing much fire on the same field where they won the national championship less than a year ago. The Blue Devils kill off a man-down situation and get possession again. Maybe that will spark something.

4:45 in the 2nd: Duke 2, Maryland 4

To be successful, Duke needs to be sharper on ground balls. Maryland holds a 14-9 edge in the statistic, and that hasn’t even been inflated by faceoff numbers because several of their faceoff wins have come from Duke violations. Right now, the Terrapins are feeding off the crowd’s energy to build momentum. Right now, the Blue Devils aren’t winning the hustle battles at a rate that can win them this game.

10:38  in the 2nd: Duke 2, Maryland 4

Niko Amato finally lets in another goal, again on a mid-range bounce shot. Tucker Virtue provides the assist and Josh Offit finishes. But after another faceoff violation by  Duke, Curtis Holmes takes the ball from the faceoff X straight to the goal and scores less than five seconds after the Offit goal. Momentum swings back to the Terrapins.

12:45  in the 2nd: Duke 1, Maryland 3

After Maryland wins the opening faceoff, Zach Howell’s pressure in the Terrapins defensive zone gives Duke possession, but the Blue Devils are unable to convert on the unsettled opportunity. Niko Amato has been on fire this game since giving up a goal in the opening minute. On the other side of the field, Wigrizer lets up his third goal of the past 10 minutes. The Maryland fans are definitely getting louder as their team builds a lead

End of the 1st: Duke 1, Maryland 2

After losing the opening faceoff, Maryland’s Curtis Holmes picks up where he left off against Duke in the last game, winning two straight faceoffs. After a bit of back-and-forth action and near misses by both teams, Duke once again has possession. This game has slowed down considerably, and Maryland will probably be happy to keep this pace despite the fact that Duke seems to be dominating time of possession. Still, a spectacular goal by Maryland’s Kevin Cooper has put the Terrapins up in the only stat that matters: goals.

7:12 in the 1st: Duke 1, Maryland 1

Duke loses the ensuing faceoff on a procedural penalty, but the defense comes up with a stop and the Blue Devils reset in the offensive zone. This game has become very physical, very quickly. One scrum leads into another and eventually Duke gets possession on a loose-ball push called against Maryland. Also of note, we’re getting word that Duke basketball star Nolan Smith, a Maryland native, is in attendance today. Maryland goalie Niko Amato has put the team on his back and made a series of spectacular saves to keep the Terrapins in the game. Maryland eventually takes advantage on offense with a Grant Catalino laser.

14:06 in the 1st: Duke 1, Maryland 0

David Lawson scores the first goal of the game on a bounce-shot off an assist by Robert Rotanz after Greg DeLuca took (and won) the first faceoff of the game.

Pregame:

While waiting for the game to start, the officials get someone to take a commemorative photo of them lined up at midfield. Both teams have now taken the field—the Blue Devils in white jerseys and shorts, the Terrapins in red jerseys with black shorts. Maryland head coach John Tillman leads his team out of the tunnel at a run, holding a Maryland state flag aloft. The stage is set, and the lights have come on at M&T Bank Stadium. It’s game time.

Pregame:

As Duke takes the field for warmups, there are definitely more boos than cheers—not particularly loud—but there’s pretty audible support for Maryland when its players jog out. Most of the Virginia and Denver fans have vacated their seats. It will be interesting to see who fills them. So far, I’m seeing a lot more red shirts than blue shirts as the fans file in. Ironically, the Terrapins have been designated as the visiting team because of the NCAA Tournament seeding.

Pregame:

Welcome to the Blue Zone’s Live Blog of today’s game between the fifth-seeded Blue Devils and the unseeded Terrapins! I’ll be coming to you live from the the beautiful press room at M & T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. The early game between seventh-seeded Virginia and sixth-seeded Denver is pretty much decided, as the Cavaliers lead by seven goals with under five minutes to play. That will set up an all-ACC championship game between Virginia and the winner of Duke-Maryland. These teams met twice earlier in the season, with the Blue Devils winning the first in OT to turn their season around and the Terrapins winning the ACC championship game in a match they probably needed to win to get to the NCAA Tournament.

For more on the upcoming game you can check out the Blue Zone’s full preview and keys to victory.

Duke to Face Maryland in Men’s Lacrosse Semifinals

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After coming off of a 7-5 win against No. 4 Notre Dame Sunday in the Quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament, No. 5 Duke is preparing for another matchup against Maryland tonight at 6:30 p.m. that will hopefully propel the Blue Devils to yet another championship run.

This is the third time the two teams will play against each other this season, with both teams taking one game apiece. Both schools have played each other in the NCAA Tournament before, and tonight’s contest marks the fourth overall meeting between the two in the post-season.

To combat certain aspects of the Terrapins’ game, head coach John Danowski said he is working with his team to better their draw control right off the bat, as well as other elements of the Blue Devil style of play.

“Well you know again, we’ll keep practicing every day with everyone to get better,” Danowski said. “Sometimes the faceoff game is a matter of matchups at the draw, sometimes it’s a matter of your wing play, or trying to create a scrum and to be able to fight for the ball and sometimes it’s what you do in both the offense and the defensive boxes, so we’re going to prepare to try to win faces with the draw, try to see if we can make some plays at the wing. ”

Though the Blue Devils are higher seeded than the Terrapins and are facing Maryland in Baltimore, the team isn’t focused specifically on their opponent as much as they are on themselves and preforming well.

“Well I’ll tell you what, I’m a big fan of everything that John Wooden has ever done in that while you certainly prepare for your opponent, a lot of this now is about what you do and how you do things and so how we approach the ball in defense and our team defensive position, playing a pick is playing a pick,” Danowski said. “It’s about how consistent can you be, how alert you are defensively and offensively, you know it’s only going to be about, can you finish well?

“Is your team shooting well?  Are we moving the ball, making the right pass; they’re either going to slide from the crease or they’re going to slide adjacent or fake slide or not slide at all and you’re going to have to beech them in, and all those lessons that your kids have learned all year; are they going to be able to translate that on Saturday night.”

For more about tonight’s contest, be sure to check out The Blue Zone’s “Three Keys to Duke-Maryland.”

Three Keys to Duke-Maryland

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No. 5 Duke faces off against unseeded Maryland today at 6:30 in Baltimore, MD in the second semifinal game. The teams split two earlier matchups with the Blue Devils taking a 9-8 overtime win in the fourth game of the regular season but the Terrapins getting revenge by claiming the ACC Championship in an 11-9 win. Here are the keys to what will be by fare the most important of the three meetings between these teams:

1. Familiarity Breeds…

The easy answer is “contempt” because that’s a pretty fair way to describe the Maryland-Duke rivalry (whether or not it’s a “real” rivalry depends on which side you’re on) and because that’s how the saying goes. But in this case, familiarity will allow both teams to make adjustments. It should be an interesting tactical battle and it remains to be seen what effect, if any, meeting twice this season will have on this game. It’s worth noting that Duke head coach John Danowski has been incredibly successful in the past in rematches of past losses. In his five years as the Blue Devils’ head coach, he has never lost to the same team twice in one season. But his teams have never played an opponent a third time after splitting the first two, either.

2. Home Field Advantage

While technically a neutral field, it’s no secret that Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, is a much easier drive from College Park, MD than it is from Durham, NC. Four of Duke’s five losses this season have come on the road or at neutral sites. But it’s possible that the crowd here at M & T Bank Stadium won’t be as partisan as many are predicting for a couple of reasons. More than any other sporting event I’ve ever attended, there are a huge number of people here who are just fans of the sport. In the first game, goals by Virginia and Denver are both being cheered by what appears to be a majority of the fans. Addtionally, the Blue Devil loyalists seem to have traveled pretty well. While checking out the tailgate action I found a group of about 50 in CJ Costabile jersey-shirts (they were all from his home town of New Fairfield, CT). There will be more people supporting the Terrapins, but it won’t be by as many as you might expect.

3. Faceoffs

In the ACC championship game, Maryland faceoff man Curtis Holmes played an unbelievable game, winning 18-of-24 faceoffs. In that game, Duke seemed to be playing better on offense and defense, but the team’s failures at the X were too much. The Terrapins’ constant domination of possession killed the Blue Devils’ early-game offensive momentum, tired out the defense, and prevented any chance of a late-game rally. How Fowler and Costabile (or his replacement if he’s not healthy enough to take faceoffs) fare against Holmes will be crucial for Duke in today’s game.

Notable Jersey Numbers in Freshman Class

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The freshmen jersey numbers have been leaked and a few of them might surprise people.

According to @TheDevilsDen, the Twitter account for the Duke page on Scout.com, incoming recruits Austin Rivers, Quinn Cook and Alex Murphy will be donning the jersey numbers 0, 2 and 12 in the upcoming season.

Cook, a guard and the No. 37 recruit in the country according to ESPN, takes the number of the now graduated guard Nolan Smith who wore No. 2 all four years at Duke. Similarly, the No. 40 recruit in the country, Alex Murphy has big shoes to fill taking No. 12 which used to belong to fellow forward Kyle Singler.

What does this mean?

While nothing is set in stone, it certainly has the implication that Duke does not plan to retire the numbers of Smith and Singler. Although it does not preclude them from doing so, the school’s willingness to give out those jersey number can be an indication that Smith’s No. 2 and Singler’s No. 12 will not hang in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium. When J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams had their No. 4 and No. 23 jerseys retired in 2007 after their graduation in 2006, those numbers were not given out to freshmen that year.

Also notable, Rivers wearing the No. 0 is unprecedented in the Coach Krzyzewski era. There had been speculation all season about whether Coach K would allow the No. 2 recruit in the nation to become the first under him to wear the number.

The other two freshmen, forward Michael Gbinije and center Marshall Plumlee will wear the numbers 13 and 40 respectively.

Greg Paulus Takes Job At Ohio State

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Greg Paulus is nothing if not determined.

When the former Duke point guard’s NBA dreams weren’t fulfilled, he tried his hand at football, quarterbacking for Syracuse. He moved from there to coaching basketball, joining the staff at Navy. He once again found himself jobless May 9, when Navy head coach Billy Lange left to take an assistant coaching job at Villanova, and his staff was not retained.

Undeterred, Paulus has found himself another job. Last night, Paulus confirmed to WSYR-TV in his hometown of Syracuse, N.Y., that he has accepted a position as video coordinator for Ohio State.

The position could be a stepping stone for Paulus to get back to an assistant coaching job; Chris Carrawell, for example, held a video coordinator position at Duke before being tapped to join women’s head coach Joanne P. McCallie’s staff as an assistant next season.

Paulus will find himself in the awkward position of facing his former team this season when the Blue Devils travel to Columbus, Ohio to play the Buckeyes Nov. 29 as part as the annual Big 10/ACC Challenge.

Blue Devils Win First Regional Title in School History

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Duke claimed its first regional title by shooting a combined 8-under in the final round.

Trailing conference rival Georgia Tech entering the final round  of competition in the NCAA East Regional, Duke was met with yet another roadblock—a 40 minute fog delay.

Julian Suri’s solution? Turn up the tunes, stretch a bit, and wait.

Whatever was on Suri’s playlist Saturday morning certainly did the trick, as the Blue Devils combined to shoot eight-under par in the final round to overtake the Yellowjackets and claim Duke’s first ever regional title. In the final round the No. 16 Blue Devils shot a full seven strokes better than No. 5 Georgia Tech, and four strokes better than their nearest competition.

“We didn’t have exactly the start we were looking for,” Suri said, “but overall it was really good. It gave us a huge amount of confidence, especially beating our conference rival.”

Suri and his teammates started slow on Thursday—Suri shot a four-over 76 and only one Blue Devil, Brinson Paolini, shot under par.

The second round was kinder to Duke, though, as Suri rebounded with a two-under 70 to lead the team. However, a surprisingly poor round by Paolini, the Blue Devil’s No. 1, kept the team chasing the competition.

“This whole spring I haven’t really opened up well in tournaments, and I kind of did the same thing this time,” Suri said. “But I righted the ship and played much better towards the end of my first round. I focused on that, and the positives of that round, to push me through these last couple rounds.”

In the final round everything came together for Duke, as Paolini rebounded with an even-par 72, and Suri and Tim Gornik combined to shoot 10-under.

Gornik was particularly impressive—his six-under 66 set the competitive course record at the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech. Gornik bogeyed only one hole on the day—the 495-yard, par four 18th—but shot seven birdies.

Gornik finished the tournament even-par and tied for eighth place, while Suri claimed fifth place with a two-under 214.

Now, the Blue Devils will look to use their historic accomplishment as momentum heading into next week’s NCAA Championship, a tournament which they’ve now qualified for in three straight years under head coach Jamie Green.

“We’ve played really well, pretty consistent this spring,” Suri said. “It’s would’ve, could’ve, should’ve for this week, but building on this for next week is what’s important.”