Tag Archives: C.J. Costabile

C.J. Costabile honored as Tewaaraton Trophy finalist

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C.J. Costabile, who had already taken home the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award and been named a First-team All-American, received recognition as one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award Thursday night at the National Museum of the American Indian. The Tewaaraton Foundation and the University Club of Washington, D.C annually present the award to the best male and female lacrosse players in the nation. The trophy’s name comes from the Mohawk word for lacrosse and is meant to recognize the sport’s Native American origins.

Colgate’s Peter Baum took home the trophy after an outstanding statistical season, in which he notched 67 goals and 30 assists. In addition to Baum and Costabile, attackmen Will Manny of Massachusetts, Mike Sawyer of Loyola, and Steele Stanwick of Virginia were named finalists for the men’s trophy. Costabile was the only defensive player to be named a finalist for the award. No defensive player has ever won the Tewaaraton Trophy.

“Just being nominated as a defenseman is rare,” said head coach John Danowski, who also attended Thursday night’s ceremony. “So we are very proud of the fact that he was recognized and nominated for the award…. It’s just like the Heisman Trophy: quarterbacks put up gaudy numbers. You compare numbers…. There are no stats for a center or a linebacker…. It’s the same way in our sport. C.J. took a lot of draws, did a lot of dirty work, and did a lot of things that get unnoticed.”

Costabile, who was picked in the first round of January’s Major League Lacrosse draft, will continue his lacrosse career professionally with the Long Island Lizards alongside former Duke teammate Parker McKee.

Blue Devils trail Maryland at halftime

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Much to Duke’s dismay, this year’s NCAA tournament semifinal is looking eerily similar to last year’s thus far.

At the half, the No. 3 seeded Blue Devils (15-4) trail unseeded Maryland (11-5) 7-4 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Six different scorers have tallied goals thus far for the Terrapins, who have controlled possession and the pace of the game for the first two quarters.

The Blue Devils were unable to create opportunities in transition in the first half, falling into the Terrapins slow pace. Maryland’s patience paid off in its shot selection, scoring seven goals on just 12 shots.

Ball movement was a struggle for Duke as the Terrapins clamped down on the defensive end. Just one of the Blue Devils’ four goals was assisted, while Maryland players recorded assists on six of the Terrapins’ seven goals.

Duke placed a high emphasis on faceoffs coming into this week’s matchup, and despite winning 7 of 12 draws, have struggled to maintain possession. Two of the Blue Devils’ four goals came off successful draws, but Duke has struggled to create offense otherwise. Stringing together goals has been one of Duke’s strengths throughout the season, but the Terrapins have been successful in keeping the Blue Devil offense out of its rhythm.

Duke will begin the second half with the man advantage after Maryland committed a one-minute penalty with 1.5 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

More postseason accolades for Duke’s Costabile

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Duke’s C.J. Costabile has been selected as the 2012 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award winner in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse, according to a press release issued Sunday morning. The announcement and trophy presentation were made today by Lowe’s, an official Corporate Partner of the NCAA, during the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

Costabile was chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I men’s lacrosse head coaches, national media and fans as the most outstanding senior student-athlete. The Senior CLASS Award recognizes seniors who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence—community, classroom, character, and competition.

A 2012 First-Team All-American and ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Costabile has recorded a team-high 137 ground balls this season, adding six goals and four assists. He picked up a career-high 15 ground balls in Duke’s NCAA quarterfinal victory over Colgate.

Off the field, in addition to being an All-ACC academic selection, the Tewaaraton Trophy finalist has been active in Duke’s community service initiatives. Along with many of his Blue Devil teammates, Costabile has volunteered his time at a local Ronald McDonald house, cooking dinner for Durham families in need. He also volunteers his time at Duke Children’s Hospital.

“This is a great honor, not only for C.J., but for the entire Duke lacrosse program. C.J. is a great young man and is just one of many outstanding men who have come through our program,” head coach John Danowski said. “He has shown great dedication not only on the field, but also in the classroom as well as in our many community service projects. It’s fantastic that he is being recognized.”

Costabile also received the Lt. j.g. Donald Maclaughlin Jr. Award as the nation’s top midfielder earlier this week.

Sound bites from men’s lacrosse media day

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Players and coaches from the four teams in the NCAA men’s lacrosse semifinals met with the media yesterday up in Foxboro, Mass. where championship weekend is being held at Gillette Stadium.

Here are some of the best quotes, leading up to Duke’s game vs. Maryland on Saturday at 5 p.m., determining which of these two ACC squads will make the championship game>

Duke head coach John Danowski on focus going into the game:

“If it’s the first game of the season or the last game of the season, you want to win face-offs, you want to pick up ground balls, you want to win your battles defensively, you want to make saves, and you want to shoot smart. None of that really changes from week to week.”

Danowski on his plan to avoid a slow first-quarter start:

“You just gotta play the game and see what happens. A lot of crazy things could happen in that first quarter. There’s really no way to plan it. You’ve just got to hope that your guys are relaxed, you’ve got to hope that they’re confident and that we can make some plays in that first quarter. But if we don’t, we’re just going to relax and keep playing.”

Danowski on adjusting to a lower-scoring game than that against Colgate:

“There’s no doubt that we’re going to have to make good decisions. If you have transition opportunities, either off a face-off or from the defensive end, you’ve got to stay aggressive. Defensively we’ve got to be poised and win our individual battles.”

Senior midfielder CJ Costabile on the biggest strength of the team:

“We’re just a tight-knit group. I think that’s the biggest thing that we have. During my time at Duke we’ve had a lot of great teams, but I think this year particularly there really has been no divide between classes. I think that chemistry carries over to the field tremendously.”

Maryland head coach John Tillman on defending against a deep offensive attack:

“We’re certainly going to have to play seven against their six offensive players, including our goalie. They’re a team that doesn’t really key on one person, so we’re going to have to communicate really well, understand what defensive scheme we’re in, and think one play ahead.”

Tillman on adjustments the team has made since its loss to Colgate May 5:

“I could probably go on and on. Everything from the way we practice to the way we stretch, the drills we do in practice. The one thing we asked everybody to do was to wipe the slate clean, and everybody said, ‘Alright, we’re back to ground zero. Let’s recommit ourselves and play the best lacrosse that we can possibly play down the stretch’.”

Duke ousts Colgate, advances to championship weekend

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Sparked by a huge second quarter run, No. 3 seed Duke (15-4) knocked off Colgate (14-4) 17-6 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. With the victory Duke advances to championship weekend for the sixth consecutive season. The Blue Devils move on to face Maryland next Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Ma.

The Raiders, who entered play as one of the hottest teams in the country, put pressure on Duke early in the contest. After falling behind 4-2 to an energized Colgate squad, the Blue Devils mounted an emphatic run to put the game away. Duke’s offensive unit was sharp as the Blue Devils responded with 13 unanswered goals. Robert Rotanz led the way for Duke, tallying a career-high five goals and adding an assist. Eight different scorers notched goals for the Blue Devils in the contest.

Duke held Colgate scoreless for a 26:14 stretch that spanned from the end of the first quarter to the middle of the third. On the defensive end, Henry Lobb was stellar, holding Colgate’s Peter Baum, the nation’s leading scorer, to just one goal. Junior Dan Wigrizer was strong between the pipes. Though he was not tested often during Duke’s long run, Wigrizer faced significant action during the third period and recorded nine saves in the game, keeping the Raiders at bay when they attempted to claw back.

CJ Costabile was a force at the faceoff spot for the Blue Devils, winning 14 of 20 draws. Costabile also added 15 ground balls, many of which allowed Duke to control possession for the majority of the second and third periods as it broke the game open.

Duke lacrosse earns postseason honors

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Jordan Wolf became the first player in Duke lacrosse history to earn all-ACC honors in each of his first two seasons. Wolf’s selection was announced last Thursday as a result of voting by the league’s coaches. Wolf earned his first all-ACC selection during his freshman season when he finished second on the team in scoring with 31 goals and 20 assists. This year, Wolf is the team’s leading scorer, having notched 28 goals and 27 assists in 16 games.

Seniors C.J. Costabile and Robert Rotanz also earned all-ACC selections. This was Costabile’s second selection as well. Costabile was also named ACC Co-Defensive Player of the Year along with Maryland’s Jesse Bernhardt. He has tallied five goals and three assists in 2012 and has also picked up a whopping 104 ground balls. The long-stick midfielder has also proven to be relentless at the faceoff x, winning a team-high 113 of his 216 attempts this season.

Head coach John Danowski was also named the ACC’s Coach of the Year. This is Danowski’s third Coach of the Year award in his six seasons at Duke.

Danowski recently led the Blue Devils to their fourth ACC tournament title in the past six seasons. Costabile was one of five Blue Devils named to the ACC all-tournament team. Costabile was joined by freshman Will Haus, sophomore Josh Dionne, junior Dan Wigrizer and the tournament’s MVP, sophomore Christian Walsh. Walsh tallied four goals and two assists in Duke’s 12-9 victory over North Carolina to clinch its eighth ACC title.