2009 NCAA Semifinalists Duke Lacrosse Over the Years

2007 NCAA Semifinal
Duke 12, Cornell 11
Head Coach
John Danowski
Dan Loftus
Duke Lacrosse Over the Years
One year later, Pressler and the Blue Devils enjoyed
the finest season in Duke history, winning an NCAA
single-season record 17 games against three defeats and
advancing to the national championship game. Even
though Duke fell in the finals to Johns Hopkins, 9-8,
the Blue Devils were vastly rewarded for their efforts.
Pressler was named the USILA National Coach of the Year
while Danowski and Aaron Fenton earned top honors at
their respective positions of attackman and goalkeeper,
respectively. Danowski led the country in scoring with a
school record 92 points on 50 goals and 42 assists while
Fenton paced the nation in goalkeeper rating.
The Blue Devils swept the ACC honors as Pressler
(Coach of the Year), Danowski (Player of the Year) and
Greer (Rookie of the Year) claimed the hardware. The
league’s top coaching honor marked the third for Pressler
in his 15 seasons on the Duke sideline. Duke finished
unbeaten in regular season league play — capped off by
a 17-2 victory over Virginia in front of over 6,500 fans at
Koskinen Stadium in mid-April — for the first time before
falling to Maryland in the ACC Tournament finals.
Zash joined Danowski and Fenton on the All-America
first unit while Peter Lamade and Tony McDevitt received
second team honors. Greer, who established a new NCAA
single-season goal scoring record for freshmen with 57,
was a third team selection and Casey Carroll garnered an
honorable mention citation.
Duke’s run to the national title game was fueled by
Danowski, Dan Flannery and Greer as the trio combined
for 54 points over four games, thus becoming the second
most prolific scoring trio in NCAA Tournament history.
Danowski, who had two goals and four assists in the
championship game, and Flannery were accompanied
on the NCAA All-Tournament Team by Zash and Nick
O’Hara. A long stick midfielder, O’Hara was instrumental
in Duke’s national semifinal victory over Maryland,
recording two goals and one assist in the 18-9 triumph.
The Blue Devils also established a new tournament
record for scoring offense, piling up 60 total goals in wins
over Fairfield, Cornell and Maryland in addition to the
loss to Hopkins.
After Duke won six of its first eight games to
start the 2006 season, the campaign was suspended on
March 31 and Pressler resigned from his post on April
7 following 16 years at the helm. Cassese was named
the program’s interim head coach on June 5, and John
Danowski, who had successfully guided the Hofstra
program to an NCAA record-tying 17 wins in 2006, was
tabbed the head coach to replace Pressler on July 21.
Danowski Era Begins
In John Danowski, Duke found the perfect man to
assume the reigns of the Blue Devil program. A former
national coach of the year choice who guided Hofstra to
eight conference championships, Danowski guided Duke
to 17 wins in his first campaign along with the ACC
regular season and tournament crowns. In addition,
the 2007 Blue Devils earned the program’s first number
one seed in the NCAA Tournament but the storybook
season ended with a 12-11 loss to Johns Hopkins in the
championship game.
In the postseason, Duke defeated Providence in
the opening round (18-3) before Danowski and Greer
combined for 11 goals and nine assists one week later in
the Blue Devils’ 19-11 triumph over North Carolina in
the quarterfinals. Duke’s national semifinal tilt against
undefeated Cornell — which defeated the Blue Devils, 7-6,
during the regular season — offered plenty of highlights
for the crowd of 52,004 at M&T Bank Stadium in
Baltimore. Fueled by three goals by Greer in an 8-0 run,
Duke claimed a 10-3 advantage midway through the third
period only to see the Big Red counter with an 8-1 spurt
that knotted the game at 11-11 on Brian Clayton’s goal
with 17 seconds on the clock.
On the ensuing face-off, Duke rookie Terrence
Molinari won the draw and fed the ball to Lamade, who
then found Greer in front of the net for the game-winning
goal with three seconds remaining.
Duke’s offense thrived in 2007 as Matt Danowski and
Greer finished one-two nationally in scoring and formed
the second-most prolific scoring duo in NCAA history
with a combined 190 points.
The younger Danowski became the most decorated
player in school history by earning ACC Player of the
Year, ACC Tournament MVP and National Player of the
Year honors following an impressive 44-goal, 52-assist
campaign. He was joined on the first team All-America
squad by teammates Carroll, Greer and O’Hara. McDevitt
(3rd team), Dan Loftus (3rd) and Brad Ross (HM) also
received All-America recognition.
The records continued to fall in 2008 as the Blue Devils
captured an NCAA-record 18 victories while capturing
their third consecutive ACC title. Sporting a 16-1 record
heading into the NCAA Tournament, Duke earned the
No. 1 seed for the second straight year. The Blue Devils
defeated Loyola 12-7 in the first round and cruised through
the quarterfinal round in Ithaca, N.Y. with a 21-10 rout of
Ohio State. Appearing in the NCAA Semifinals for the
third time in four seasons, Duke took on Johns Hopkins
at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
The Blue Jays grabbed an early 5-2 lead before Duke
started to chip away, tying the game 8-8 on a Nick O’Hara
goal midway through the fourth quarter.
Johns Hopkins scored two unanswered for a two-goal
cushion with 4:18 on the clock. Brad Ross drew Duke
within on with 28 ticks left. The Blue Jays won the ensuing
faceoff, but Crotty picked up a loose ball and the Blue
Devils called a timeout. Coming out of the break with 3.9
seconds on the clock, Matt Danowski’s bid to the tie the
contest was stopped by the Johns Hopkins goalie, his 17th
of the day. Duke finished 18-2 on the year.
Matt Danowski and Zack Greer finished one-two,
respectively, in the NCAA in points and shattered NCAA
scoring marks over the course of the season. Greer tallied
an NCAA record 206 goals in 67 career starts, while
Danowski finished his collegiate lacrosse career with an
amazing 353 career points. His 97 points on the season
led the nation and earned him the USILA National Player
of the Year award for the second straight season. Greer
was voted the USILA Attackman of the Year, while senior
Nick O’Hara captured the USILA National Defenseman
of the Year trophy.
Both Matt and Greer earned All-America first team
honors and were joined on the top squad by Nick O’Hara.
Ned Crotty (2nd), Tony McDevitt (2nd), Dan Loftus (3rd),
Max Quinzani (3rd), Ross (3rd), and Parker McKee (HM)
also garnered All-America recognition.
Despite a new cast of leaders at the forefront of the
program, the 2009 squad generated similar results. The
Blue Devils defied all expectations and captured their third
consecutive ACC title – the first time a Duke team has
achieved that feat – and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals
for the third straight season.
In what can be considered Coach Danowski’s best
coaching job, Duke upset top-ranked Virginia twice and
defeated North Carolina three times, including in the
ACC Championship and NCAA Quarterfinals.
The offense was led by the dynamic duo of attackmen
Ned Crotty and Max Quinzani. The tandem combined
for 135 points to leading all scoring duos in Division I
lacrosse. Crotty registered 55 assists, falling just one shy
Seven-time ACC Champions 2009 NCAA Semifinalists
The Returnees
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