One year after having its season cancelled following rape allegation against three players, the Duke men?s lacrosse team is two wins away from a national title.
Zack Greer had seven goals and three assists and Matt Danowski had four goals and six assists as Duke overcame a four-goal deficit after the first quarter to defeat North Carolina, 19-11, Sunday in front of 10,438 fans Sunday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.
Recommended Stories
Duke (16-2) plays Cornell this Saturday in the national semifinals at M&T Bank Stadium. Cornell reached the Final Four with a 12-11 overtime victory over Albany in Princeton, N.J. Cornell defeated Duke 7-6 on in a regular season game on March 20.
North Carolina came out ready to play in the first quarter as the Tar Heels jumped out to a 5-1 lead with five different players finding the back of the net. However, Greer single-handedly kept Duke in the game in the second quarter as he scored three of the Blue Devils four goals during that 15-minute span to pull his team within 8-5 at halftime.
Duke continued its comeback in the second half as the Blue Devils outscored North Carolina, 7-1, in the third quarter to take a 12-9 lead. Ned Crotty gave Duke the lead for good with 7:45 left in the third quarter following a goal assisted by Greer. The seven goals tied an NCAA record for most third quarter goals scored in a quarterfinal game.
The Blue Devils extended the lead to 15-9 before Tar Heel sophomore attack Michael Burns scored with 10:52 remaining. That goal represented North Carolina?s first score in 17:18. Sean Burke, Ben Hunt, Shane Walterhoefer and Gavin Petracca scored two goals each for North Carolina, which was outscored 14-3 in the second half.
Duke, which is now in its second national semifinal in three years and third overall, trails 37-20 in the all-time series against North Carolina. But the Blue Devils have won six straight against their Atlantic Coast Conference archrival. North Carolina finished its season 10-6 after going 4-10 the previous year.
