Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/9/11
From Press Releases
Duke University sophomore Jordan Wolf, a Lower Merion graduate, scored three goals this afternoon in a 21-9 loss to the United States men’s lacrosse senior national team for Stars and Stripes Weekend at Cardinal Gibbons High School.
Drew Westervelt led the U.S. with four goals.
“I think being humbled like that can be a positive experience if we take it the right way,” Duke head coach John Danowski said. “We were beaten in every facet of the game, but the hope is that we learn. These guys are the best around. If we learn, we’ll be better for it. This is our starting point. This is who we are today.”
Senior Robert Rotanz added two goals for the Blue Devils, while Josh Dionne, Josh Offit, Brian Dailey and Andrew Vekstein all had one apiece. All three goalies saw action for Duke, combining for 10 saves on 47 overall shots for the U.S.
Former Blue Devils Ned Crotty and Matt Danowski suited up for the United States. Danowski finished with three goals and an assist, while Crotty had one goal and two helpers. The U.S. squad was coached by former Duke All-America, Kevin Cassese, the head coach at Lehigh.
The United States jumped out to an early three goal lead and cruised through to the convincing victory. The Blue Devils started three freshmen in the game, including rookie goaltender Kyle Turri. He finished with two saves in 20 minutes of action.
“It was great for [the freshmen],” Danowski said. “We knew there were going to be times when they were going to struggle. But that’s the idea of why you play fall lacrosse, to put freshmen in right away to see if they can compete or if they’re ready to compete. I thought some of them got better as the day went on.”
After Duke pulled within three in the first quarter, Team USA went on a run over the next 20 minutes to take an 11-3 lead into halftime.
Duke never managed to get any closer as the U.S. team fired on all cylinders and controlled the time of possession. Wolf, Rotanz and the rookie Dailey all had tallies for the Blue Devils in the second half.
Three different Blue Devils line up at the faceoff X, taking 11 apiece. Freshman Jack Rowe went 5-of-11 in restarts, while Henry Meyer won two. Andrew Rullan also took 11 draws. Chris Eck of the United States took all 33 faceoffs, winning 26.
Overall for the game, Team USA had a 47-28 edge in shots and picked up 51 ground balls to Duke’s 28. Both teams did well in the clearing game. The U.S. was a perfect 22-of-22, while Duke was 16-of-17.
In goal for Duke, senior Mike Rock had five saves on 12 shots faced and junior Dan Wigrizer (Haverford School) had three saves on nine shots. Rock played 20 minutes over the course of the second and third quarters, while Wigrizer closed out the final 20 minutes.
The game was the lone fall competition for the Blue Devils. They next will compete in an exhibition game against Navy on Jan. 29.
