The Blue Devils coming into Saturday’s meeting at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium with a perfect 4-0 record and the No. 1 ranking in the Inside Lacrosse media poll and the USILA coaches poll.
Saturday will not only be the conference opener for the Blue Devils, but will also be the first road game of the season for the defending NCAA champions. Duke has earned home victories over Jacksonville (16-10 on Feb. 8), No. 4 Denver (14-10 on Feb. 15), No. 16 Penn (9-6 on Feb. 21) and Stony Brook (14-6 on Feb. 23).
The Blue Devils are led on offense by senior attackman Jordan Wolf. The 2013 second team All-American has totaled 19 points on 10 goals and nine assists so far in 2014 and has now totaled 220 points for his career on 130 goals and 90 assists. He is joined on attack by senior Josh Dionne, who also has 10 goals this season to go along with two assists, and sophomore Case Matheis, who has 10 points on six goals and four assists in three games since missing the opener vs. Jacksonville.
Duke has depth in the midfield with its first line being led by sophomore Deemer Class (6 goals and 6 assists) and senior Christian Walsh (4 goals, 2 assists). They are joined by freshman Jack Bruckner, who has yet to tally a point in the Blue Devils’ four games. Duke’s second line of junior Kyle Keenan, sophomore Myles Jones and freshman Thomas Zenker has been nearly as productive, chipping in with 11 goals and four assists combined.
Defensively, the Blue Devils have been buoyed by the return of redshirt senior Casey Carroll, a 2007 first team All-American who served with the 3rd BN 75th Ranger Regiment of the U.S. Army from 2007-12. Since returning, Carroll has led the Blue Devils with 10 caused turnovers and leads all non-faceoff men with 17 groundballs. He is joined on the Blue Devils’ backline by four-year starter and 2014 team captain Chris Hipps and sophomore Jamie Ikeda.
Sophomore Luke Aaron has started the last two games in net for Duke after relieving junior Kyle Turri in cage after the first quarter vs. Denver. Aaron has seen action in all four games this season and boasts a 5.73 goals-against average.
Senior Brendan Fowler was a first team All-American in 2013 and earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the NCAA championships after setting an NCAA record for faceoff wins in a season with 339 victories. So far this season Fowler has won 57 of 89 faceoffs (.640) with 38 groundballs.
from umterps.com
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