2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years
2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years
2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years
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Joe Matassa<br />
Maurice Glavin<br />
Head Coach<br />
Mike Pressler<br />
The success built from <strong>the</strong>re. A transfer by <strong>the</strong> name<br />
of Tony Cullen brought his explosive scoring talent from<br />
New York to Durham and immediately led <strong>the</strong> Blue Devils<br />
to a 9-6 mark. <strong>Duke</strong> finished <strong>the</strong> season ranked 15th in<br />
<strong>the</strong> nation, and Cullen led <strong>the</strong> ACC in scoring and earned<br />
honorable mention All-America honors. Cullen continued<br />
to have success on <strong>the</strong> offensive side of <strong>the</strong> field, leading<br />
<strong>the</strong> nation in scoring and earning All-America honors<br />
for <strong>the</strong> second straight season. He closed out his career<br />
as a three-time All-America selection and a North-South<br />
participant.<br />
In 1978, <strong>Duke</strong>’s most prolific scorer arrived on <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Duke</strong> campus. Dave Hagler keyed <strong>the</strong> Blue Devil offense<br />
for three seasons and graduated in 1982 as <strong>the</strong> Blue<br />
Devils’ career scoring leader with 254 points. Following<br />
that 1982 season, Espey retired and handed <strong>the</strong> reins to<br />
former player Tony Cullen.<br />
<strong>Duke</strong>’s 1985 team provided <strong>the</strong> nucleus of success for<br />
<strong>the</strong> next four seasons. The names from <strong>the</strong> ’85 team leap out<br />
of <strong>the</strong> record books. Peter Rubin led <strong>the</strong> league in scoring<br />
as a freshman, while Ken Lukes was named honorable<br />
mention All-America and <strong>the</strong> team’s MVP, along with<br />
Peter Ortale. Jim Cabrera was selected All-ACC.<br />
<strong>Duke</strong> contended for a berth in <strong>the</strong> <strong>NCAA</strong> Tournament<br />
over <strong>the</strong> following three years. Cullen guided <strong>the</strong> ’86 team to an<br />
11-4 mark and at one point late in <strong>the</strong> year <strong>the</strong> team was ranked<br />
as high as ninth in <strong>the</strong> nation. Ortale and Lukes were All-ACC<br />
along with Rubin, who was also named honorable mention<br />
All-America. With 11 victories, <strong>the</strong> Blue Devils had won more<br />
games in a season than any team in school history.<br />
<strong>Duke</strong> matched <strong>the</strong> feat in 1987 as <strong>the</strong> team went 11-3<br />
and 2-1 in <strong>the</strong> ACC to finish as <strong>the</strong> league runner-up for<br />
Tony Cullen & Bruce Corrie<br />
Tony Cullen<br />
<strong>Duke</strong> <strong>Lacrosse</strong> <strong>Over</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Years</strong><br />
Bruce<br />
Corrie<br />
<strong>the</strong> first time in 20 years. The squad was rated 13th in<br />
<strong>the</strong> nation, one place out of <strong>the</strong> <strong>NCAA</strong> Tournament.<br />
The team defeated Division III finalist Ohio Wesleyan<br />
13-6 before knocking off 1986 <strong>NCAA</strong> finalist Virginia<br />
15-12. A week later, <strong>Duke</strong> upset defending <strong>NCAA</strong><br />
champion North Carolina 10-9 in Durham as freshman<br />
Josh Dennis netted <strong>the</strong> winning goal. Rubin and Cabrera<br />
were both honorable mention All-America selections and<br />
joined Maurice Glavin and Lukes on <strong>the</strong> All-ACC squad.<br />
Glavin and Ortale represented <strong>Duke</strong> in <strong>the</strong> North-South<br />
All-Star Game.<br />
In 1988, <strong>Duke</strong> went 8-4 on <strong>the</strong> season and narrowly<br />
missed <strong>the</strong> <strong>NCAA</strong> Tournament. Nearly 50 years to<br />
<strong>the</strong> day from <strong>the</strong> first lacrosse game in <strong>the</strong> state, <strong>Duke</strong><br />
upset undefeated Loyola (Md.) in overtime. Junior Paul<br />
Mahoney led <strong>the</strong> ACC in scoring that season and finished<br />
his career as a three-time All-ACC honoree. Dennis and<br />
Michael Conway earned honorable mention All-America<br />
honors. Conway also earned <strong>the</strong> ACC Senior Merit<br />
Award, given annually to <strong>the</strong> top scholar-athlete at each<br />
league school.<br />
Reaching New Heights With Mike Pressler<br />
In 1991 a new era began — an era led by head coach Mike<br />
Pressler. In Pressler’s first season, <strong>the</strong> Blue Devils finished<br />
<strong>the</strong> season ranked 12th in <strong>the</strong> nation, a promising 7-5<br />
overall and fell just one goal short of knocking off eventual<br />
<strong>NCAA</strong> champion North Carolina in <strong>the</strong> ACC Tournament<br />
at <strong>Duke</strong>. During <strong>the</strong> season, <strong>the</strong> Blue Devils defeated<br />
Loyola in Baltimore. Keith Melchionni ended his career<br />
as a three-time All-America selection. Joe Matassa and<br />
Gregg Schmalz joined Melchionni as honorable mention<br />
All-Americas and Schmalz was named All-ACC.<br />
The Pressler era continued into <strong>the</strong> 1992 season,<br />
as <strong>the</strong> Blue Devils accomplished feats unthinkable two<br />
years before. <strong>Duke</strong> finished <strong>the</strong> season ranked 12th in<br />
<strong>the</strong> nation and earned <strong>the</strong> school’s first bid to <strong>the</strong> <strong>NCAA</strong><br />
Tournament. In <strong>the</strong> regular season, <strong>the</strong> Blue Devils beat<br />
Virginia in Charlottesville – <strong>Duke</strong>’s first win at UVa since<br />
1950, and first ACC victory since 1988. The Blue Devils<br />
also upset fourth-ranked Loyola, 10-5.<br />
<strong>Duke</strong> finished <strong>the</strong> season with a record of 7-7 and<br />
was knocked out of <strong>NCAA</strong> Tournament play in <strong>the</strong> first<br />
round by a tough Maryland team.<br />
In 1993, Pressler’s team had an outstanding season,<br />
but barely missed <strong>the</strong> <strong>NCAA</strong> Tournament field on<br />
tough losses to Navy and Massachusetts. <strong>Duke</strong> began<br />
<strong>the</strong> season with a perfect 4-0 record, including an upset<br />
over seventh-ranked Maryland. The Blue Devils marked<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir first season with more than seven wins since <strong>Duke</strong><br />
finished 9-6 in 1989 and reached <strong>the</strong> highest national<br />
ranking in school history – a preseason rank of No. 8.<br />
The Blue Devils finished <strong>the</strong> season with a 9-5 record,<br />
while <strong>Duke</strong> watched <strong>the</strong> culmination of some of its most<br />
impressive careers.<br />
Goalkeeper Carter Hertzberg finished his career with<br />
an outstanding 582 saves with only 314 goals against for<br />
a save percentage of .650. Hertzberg also set an ACC<br />
Tournament record with 24 saves against North Carolina<br />
in <strong>the</strong> semifinals. In addition, faceoff specialist Andy<br />
Droney tallied his fourth season with over 100 faceoffs<br />
won, bringing his career total to 511 out of 928 for an<br />
impressive .551 percentage. Hertzberg, Droney and<br />
defenseman Derek Thomson were North-South selections,<br />
Tony Cullen, one of <strong>the</strong> best players in <strong>Duke</strong> men’s lacrosse history, spent nine seasons as <strong>the</strong> head coach of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Blue Devils from 1982-90. In 1986 and 1987, he guided <strong>Duke</strong> to 11-win seasons marking <strong>the</strong> first two doublefigure<br />
single-season win totals in school history. <strong>Over</strong>all, he compiled a coaching record of 71-54 with <strong>the</strong> Blue<br />
Devils and served as a coach in <strong>the</strong> prestigious North-South Game in 1989.<br />
As a player, Cullen established himself as one of <strong>the</strong> top scorers in school history. He currently stands first in<br />
career assists (114), tied for second in career points (220) and ninth in career goals (106). In addition, Cullen holds<br />
<strong>the</strong> single-game assist record (8) and single-season marks for both assists (52 in 1979) and points (90 in 1979).<br />
Bruce Corrie served as <strong>Duke</strong>’s co-head coach with Roy Skinner from 1967-70 and <strong>the</strong>n guided <strong>the</strong> Blue Devils<br />
for five additional seasons following Skinner’s retirement. In nine total seasons, Corrie led <strong>Duke</strong> to 54 victories<br />
and later became <strong>the</strong> athletic director at Northwestern University.<br />
Seven-time ACC Champions <strong>2009</strong> <strong>NCAA</strong> <strong>Semifinalists</strong><br />
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