2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years

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Joe Matassa Maurice Glavin Head Coach Mike Pressler The success built from there. A transfer by the name of Tony Cullen brought his explosive scoring talent from New York to Durham and immediately led the Blue Devils to a 9-6 mark. Duke finished the season ranked 15th in the nation, and Cullen led the ACC in scoring and earned honorable mention All-America honors. Cullen continued to have success on the offensive side of the field, leading the nation in scoring and earning All-America honors for the second straight season. He closed out his career as a three-time All-America selection and a North-South participant. In 1978, Duke’s most prolific scorer arrived on the Duke campus. Dave Hagler keyed the Blue Devil offense for three seasons and graduated in 1982 as the Blue Devils’ career scoring leader with 254 points. Following that 1982 season, Espey retired and handed the reins to former player Tony Cullen. Duke’s 1985 team provided the nucleus of success for the next four seasons. The names from the ’85 team leap out of the record books. Peter Rubin led the league in scoring as a freshman, while Ken Lukes was named honorable mention All-America and the team’s MVP, along with Peter Ortale. Jim Cabrera was selected All-ACC. Duke contended for a berth in the NCAA Tournament over the following three years. Cullen guided the ’86 team to an 11-4 mark and at one point late in the year the team was ranked as high as ninth in the nation. Ortale and Lukes were All-ACC along with Rubin, who was also named honorable mention All-America. With 11 victories, the Blue Devils had won more games in a season than any team in school history. Duke matched the feat in 1987 as the team went 11-3 and 2-1 in the ACC to finish as the league runner-up for Tony Cullen & Bruce Corrie Tony Cullen Duke Lacrosse Over the Years Bruce Corrie the first time in 20 years. The squad was rated 13th in the nation, one place out of the NCAA Tournament. The team defeated Division III finalist Ohio Wesleyan 13-6 before knocking off 1986 NCAA finalist Virginia 15-12. A week later, Duke upset defending NCAA champion North Carolina 10-9 in Durham as freshman Josh Dennis netted the winning goal. Rubin and Cabrera were both honorable mention All-America selections and joined Maurice Glavin and Lukes on the All-ACC squad. Glavin and Ortale represented Duke in the North-South All-Star Game. In 1988, Duke went 8-4 on the season and narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament. Nearly 50 years to the day from the first lacrosse game in the state, Duke upset undefeated Loyola (Md.) in overtime. Junior Paul Mahoney led the ACC in scoring that season and finished his career as a three-time All-ACC honoree. Dennis and Michael Conway earned honorable mention All-America honors. Conway also earned the ACC Senior Merit Award, given annually to the top scholar-athlete at each league school. Reaching New Heights With Mike Pressler In 1991 a new era began — an era led by head coach Mike Pressler. In Pressler’s first season, the Blue Devils finished the season ranked 12th in the nation, a promising 7-5 overall and fell just one goal short of knocking off eventual NCAA champion North Carolina in the ACC Tournament at Duke. During the season, the Blue Devils defeated Loyola in Baltimore. Keith Melchionni ended his career as a three-time All-America selection. Joe Matassa and Gregg Schmalz joined Melchionni as honorable mention All-Americas and Schmalz was named All-ACC. The Pressler era continued into the 1992 season, as the Blue Devils accomplished feats unthinkable two years before. Duke finished the season ranked 12th in the nation and earned the school’s first bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the regular season, the Blue Devils beat Virginia in Charlottesville – Duke’s first win at UVa since 1950, and first ACC victory since 1988. The Blue Devils also upset fourth-ranked Loyola, 10-5. Duke finished the season with a record of 7-7 and was knocked out of NCAA Tournament play in the first round by a tough Maryland team. In 1993, Pressler’s team had an outstanding season, but barely missed the NCAA Tournament field on tough losses to Navy and Massachusetts. Duke began the season with a perfect 4-0 record, including an upset over seventh-ranked Maryland. The Blue Devils marked their first season with more than seven wins since Duke finished 9-6 in 1989 and reached the highest national ranking in school history – a preseason rank of No. 8. The Blue Devils finished the season with a 9-5 record, while Duke watched the culmination of some of its most impressive careers. Goalkeeper Carter Hertzberg finished his career with an outstanding 582 saves with only 314 goals against for a save percentage of .650. Hertzberg also set an ACC Tournament record with 24 saves against North Carolina in the semifinals. In addition, faceoff specialist Andy Droney tallied his fourth season with over 100 faceoffs won, bringing his career total to 511 out of 928 for an impressive .551 percentage. Hertzberg, Droney and defenseman Derek Thomson were North-South selections, Tony Cullen, one of the best players in Duke men’s lacrosse history, spent nine seasons as the head coach of the Blue Devils from 1982-90. In 1986 and 1987, he guided Duke to 11-win seasons marking the first two doublefigure single-season win totals in school history. Overall, he compiled a coaching record of 71-54 with the Blue Devils and served as a coach in the prestigious North-South Game in 1989. As a player, Cullen established himself as one of the top scorers in school history. He currently stands first in career assists (114), tied for second in career points (220) and ninth in career goals (106). In addition, Cullen holds the single-game assist record (8) and single-season marks for both assists (52 in 1979) and points (90 in 1979). Bruce Corrie served as Duke’s co-head coach with Roy Skinner from 1967-70 and then guided the Blue Devils for five additional seasons following Skinner’s retirement. In nine total seasons, Corrie led Duke to 54 victories and later became the athletic director at Northwestern University. Seven-time ACC Champions 2009 NCAA Semifinalists 39
Joe Kirmser 1997 ACC Champions Duke Lacrosse Over the Years while midfielder Matt Ogelsby was named third team All-America. Thomson received honorable mention All- America honors, and Pressler was chosen as a head coach for the North-South Game. The 1994 season saw the Blue Devils accomplish many firsts for the program. The Blue Devils charted their first NCAA Tournament win, hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time, achieved the then-highest ranking in the history of the program (No.7), defeated a team ranked No.2 in the nation and beat ACC rival Maryland at home for the first time since 1954. This season of firsts brought the Blue Devils a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals where they lost to No. 1 Syracuse, 12-11. Duke finished the year with a record of 10-6 and a hunger to continue its success into 1995. Three Blue Devils earned All-America honors, including juniors Scott Harrison and Matt Ogelsby, along with senior Joe Proud. In addition, Ken Fasanaro, Mike Clayton and Chris Affolter were selected to play in the North-South Game. That hunger did carry on, as Duke enjoyed an outstanding season in 1995. Duke finished with a 12-4 record, and set a school mark for the highest ranking, No.4. Most notably, Duke won its first ever ACC Tournament title and became the first number-four seed to win the ACC Championship by defeating North Carolina, 14-6, in the final in Chapel Hill. The Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and laid claim to four All-ACC and five All-America accolades. Midfielder Matt Ogelsby earned first team All-America honors and was selected 1995 ACC Player of the Year, the first in school history. After those seniors departed from the 1995 Championship team, Duke was left with a rather young squad in 1996. The Blue Devils came away with an even 6-6 record and several individuals earned impressive accolades. Tyler Hardy was named William F. Schmeisser Division I Defensive Player of the Year and Scott Diggs garnered ACC Rookie of the Year honors – both the first awards of their kind at Duke. The 1997 Pressler team featured 13 seniors who guided the Blue Devils to what may have been the best season in the history of lacrosse at Duke. The Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in school history and tied the then-school record for most wins in a season with a 12-4 mark. In addition, the Blue Devils finished the season ranked fifth in the nation and won two NCAA Tournament games, the most in school history. A record seven Blue Devils earned All-America honors, including two first team selections in Jim Gonnella and David Stilley. Gonnella earned Division I Midfielder of the Year honors, the first award of its kind in the history of Duke lacrosse. The Blue Devils also had a school-record five players named to the All-ACC team. The 1997 team brought Duke to a new plateau of success, setting a precedent for future teams to follow. The 1998 squad, while it fell just three goals short of a return trip to the Final Four, was successful in its own right. The Blue Devils won 11 games, culminating in an 11-9 loss to eventual national champion Princeton in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Three Blue Devils earned All-ACC honors while four players were named to All-America teams. Headlining the squad were senior John Fay, a second team All-America who finished his Duke career ranked third all-time in career goals with 150, and Scott Diggs, a junior who was named first team All-America midfielder. The 1999 squad set numerous school records while advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the fourth time in program history. The Blue Devils set a school-record 13 wins, posted a new school-record winning streak with a 9-0 start to the year, defeated all three conference opponents during the season, reached its highest ranking of No. 2 nationally and boasted eight All-America selections, the most ever in a season. Juniors Stephen Card and Nick Hartofilis earned first and second team honors respectively, while Scott Diggs, Jared Frood and Tim Knowles were named to the third team. In 2000, the Blue Devils went 11-5 and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals, with Stephen Card, T.J. Durnan and Nick Hartofilis garnering All-ACC honors. In addition, the trio was joined by senior Jared Frood in earning All- America accolades. Card became just the second Blue Devil to be named first team All-America in two different seasons, joining Charles Gilfillan who turned the trick in 1948 and 1951. Both Card and Hartofilis represented Duke in the North-South All-Star Game. In 2000, seven former Duke players were selected in the first Major League Lacrosse draft. Gonnella was named one of 18 “Assigned Players” and played with the Fairfield, Conn., franchise. Other former Duke players taken in the draft were Card (6th round, 31st overall, Rochester), Nick Hartofilis (6th round, 33rd overall, Baltimore), Stilley (11th round, 65th overall, New Jersey), Frood (13th round, 73rd overall, Connecticut), John Fay (14th round, 79th overall, Rochester) and Ed Fay (16th round, 91st overall, Rochester). The 2001 Duke team returned the Blue Devils to the top of the ACC, winning the school’s third league title in men’s lacrosse. Duke defeated North Carolina in the semifinals and Maryland, 10-6, in the championship game as Bross earned Tournament MVP honors. The Blue Devils finished the year with an 11-6 overall record and advanced to the postseason for the eighth time under Pressler. Cassese was named second team All-America and became just the second player in school history to garner ACC Player of the Year honors. Bross, Chris Hartofilis and Stuart Schwartz also earned honorable mention All- America accolades. In 2002, the Blue Devils won their second straight ACC Tournament behind tourney MVP A.J. Kincel. In the championship game, Terrence Keaney scored two goals in the final two minutes to lift the Blue Devils past number one-ranked Virginia, 14-13. Duke finished the year 8-7 and fell in the NCAAs to eventual national champion Syracuse. Cassese, a first team All-America, was named the national midfielder of the year. In the summer of 2002, Pressler served as an assistant coach for Team USA which won the gold medal at the 2002 Lacrosse World Championships in Perth, Australia. Also, three players with Duke ties were named to the U.S. National Team — Bross, Cassese and Knowles. Duke’s 2003 team went 8-7 and made its third straight appearance in the ACC title game where it fell to eventual NCAA champion Virginia. Cassese closed out an outstanding career by becoming just the third Duke player ever to receive First Team All-America honors in two seasons. In addition, Cassese (118 points) and fellow captain Kevin Brennan (122 points) finished their respective careers ranking 24th and 22nd, respectively, on Duke’s all-time scoring list. In the summer of 2003, six future Duke teammates — Matt Danowski, Kyle Dowd, Peter Lamade, Glenn Nick, Bret Thompson and Matt Zash — led the United States Under-19 team to the World Championship. In addition, Zack Greer helped Canada to the championship game and was named to the All-World Team. While the 2004 Blue Devils compiled a 5-8 mark, the future of Duke lacrosse rose to the forefront. Danowski and Zash received honorable mention All-America recognition while Lamade was the lone rookie tabbed to the All-ACC squad. 40 Seven-time ACC Champions 2009 NCAA Semifinalists
Page 1: Roy Skinner Duke Lacrosse Over the
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2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years

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