Postscript from Duke vs. Syracuse
Guys like senior attackman Kenny Nims (27 goals and 41 assists) and sophomore attackman Stephen Keough (47, 6) get a lot of attention from opposing defenses and for good reason.
But the No. 2 seed and reigning national champion Orange demonstrated that their offense is multi-faceted as nine different players scored a goal and 11 different players recorded a point in Saturday’s 17-7 thumping of No. 3 seed Duke in a NCAA tournament semifinal at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Saturday.
Senior midfielder Pat Perritt surpassed his previous career high with four goals, and it was the first time he had notched a hat trick this season. Freshman attackman Tim Desko, the son of Syracuse coach John Desko, scored twice, and senior faceoff specialist Jake Moulton and sophomore long-stick midfielder Joel White each added a goal.
"I think it’s just the fact that we’re so deep," Nims said of the offense’s potential to explode. "We have about 10 guys who are capable of putting up big numbers. Any given day, someone can have a huge day. That’s been the story of our season pretty much all year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone new stepped up and had a huge game on Monday."
Other notes:
*Perritt revealed what may have been the world’s worst secret when he acknowledged that the Orange have given thought to becoming the first repeat champion since Princeton won three consecutive titles between 1996-98.
"It would be great," he said. "It would mean a lot to the program, to myself, and to the rest of my teammates. That’s our goal right now, and we’re looking forward to seeing who we’ll play after this next game."
*Syracuse got a huge lift from its faceoff unit. Moulton and junior Gavin Jenkinson won 17 of 26 as the Orange finished with 18 of 28 faceoffs. That was pretty surprising considering that the Blue Devils had won more than 54 percent of their faceoffs this season.
"To give our offense that many opportunities didn’t hurt us at all," Desko said.
*Orange senior defenseman Sid Smith limited Duke senior attackman Ned Crotty, who led the nation in points with 76 and assists with 53, to just two assists in the first quarter and nothing the rest of the game.
And although Blue Devils coach John Danowski declined to single out that matchup, junior attackman Max Quinzani acknowledged that Smith’s ability to take Crotty out of play had an impact on the way Duke ran its half-field offense.
"The pressure kept on going," Quinzani said. "We couldn’t get the ball up to Ned up top. We like to get him dodging. And then I think they laid off on the pressure, but we didn’t have long enough possessions to even see what they were doing. That’s a testament to their faceoff game, their possessions on the offensive side."
