2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years

In 2009, Duke captured its seventh ACC title,
defeating North Carolina 15-13 in the ACC Tournament
Championship. The Blue Devils ran past Virginia 16-5 in
the semifinals, getting a seven-point effort from Ned Crotty.
Duke finished the season with a 15-4 overall record, winning
its third consecutive ACC title and advancing to the NCAA
Semifinals for the third straight year.
Duke placed seven players on the ACC All-Tournament
Team in 2009 with rookie CJ Costabile picking up the Most
Outstanding Player award. Costabile is the first rookie to
capture the honor in ACC Tournament history.
The 1954 season saw the Blue Devils bring back their
first ACC championship to Durham. The team defeated
Maryland 12-10 and North Carolina 15-1 to garner the
league’s first title.
While it took 41 years for the ACC Championship trophy
to end up back in the hands of the Blue Devils, Duke has
won more titles than any other ACC team with six of the
past 15.
In 1995, head coach Mike Pressler led the Blue Devils
back to the pinnacle of the conference with convincing victories
over Virginia and North Carolina in the tournament.
Pressler helped guide Duke to consecutive titles in 2000
and 2001 as it finished ranked among the top 10 teams
nationally both seasons.
A new era began in 2007 with head coach John Danowski
at the helm of the Blue Devil lacrosse program. The longtime
head coach quickly took Duke back to the top as Duke
captured each of the next three ACC Tournament titles.
Under Danowski’s watch, Duke’s group of 2009 seniors
became the first Blue Devil lacrosse players to win three
consecutive ACC Tournament championships.
Overall, Duke owns an all-time record of 17-14 in the
ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils are 11-9 all-time in
ACC Tournament semifinal games and 6-5 in championship
tilts.
Against the field, Duke is 5-4 vs. Maryland, 7-4 vs. North
Carolina and 5-6 vs. Virginia.
Duke’s ACC Tournament MVPs include: Ross
Moscatti (1995), Scott Bross (2001), A.J. Kincel (2002)
and Matt Danowski (2007), Dan Loftus (2008) and
Costabile (2009).