NCAA men’s Division I quarterfinals: Duke’s Wigrizer, Maryland’s Amato lead teams to victory, will clash in semis

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/22/11

Duke University sophomore goaltender Dan Wigrizer (Haverford School) made 14 saves to anchor the Blue Devils to a 7-5 victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA men’s lacrosse quarterfinal at Gillette Stadium.

Duke advances to the championship weekend for the fifth straight season and for the seventh time overall.

Duke (14-5) will play unseeded Maryland on May 28 at M&T Bank Stadium. That will be the third meeting between the two squads this season.

Justin Turri led all Blue Devils with two goals, while Christian Walsh and David Lawson both had a goal and an assist. Notre Dame freshman Westy Hopkins (La Salle) led all scorers with three goals.

Freshman Jordan Wolf (Lower Merion) added a goal and a groundball and sophomore defenseman Billy Conners (Malvern Prep) had three groundballs.

Wigrizer’s high school teammate, Notre Dame freshman Liam O’Connor, won seven of 9 face-offs for the Irish

The Irish scored the game’s first two goals and took a 3-1 lead with a tally from Hopkins with 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

After managing just six shots in the first stanza, Duke put together quality possessions in the second frame. Justin Turri threw in his first marker of the day just 1:23 into the second quarter to make it a 2-1 contest. The Blue Devils defense clamped down on Notre Dame’s offense, holding it to nine shots and no goals.

Midway through the quarter, sophomore David Lawson got in the scoring column for Duke with a spit dodge and shot from 12 yards out to make it 3-3.

The Blue Devils had the final possession of the half, but Turri’s shot sailed right of the cage to send the teams to the locker rooms all even at three. Wigrizer was outstanding in the first 30 minutes with 11 saves.

Maryland 6, Syracuse 5, OT

Redshirt freshman goalie Niko Amato (La Salle) made nine saves and senior Grant Catalino scored with a low-to-high rocket from the right wing with 0:32 left in the first overtime to give the Terps a thrilling victory over No. 1 seed Syracuse in front of 14,122 Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

The victory gives the Terps a 12-4 overall record this season and sends them to their first Final Four since 2006.

Maryland senior defenseman Brett Schmidt (Upper Dublin) had one caused turnover and starting attackman Owen Blye (Downingtown East) had a groundball.