Duke Lacrosse: May Madness Begins!

[Mark Gastineau]

We begin our march towards a third consecutive national title this Saturday night against Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. We play at 7:30pm EST on ESPNU. If we win, we'll more than likely face a stout Denver squad who beat us by 4 goals earlier this year. If we can win these next two games, Coach Danowski will have Duke in the Final Four for the 9th consecutive season, which is just remarkable.

Everyone tune in on Saturday night to support our boys!

And keep your eyes on Myles Jones as he makes his case for the Tewaaraton Award, which is essentially the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse: http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=210075832&DB_OEM_ID=4200

 

[skysdad]

Let's go LX team. OFC

 

[Wolfman2610]

Mark,

Don't like that impending quarter against Denver....In fact, I think you expressed similar concerns on the ACC Tournament thread.

I saw Ohio State play earlier in the year. I think we have way too much firepower on offense for them to upset us. They were a team that got shutout by a Notre Dame team we split with in 2015.

The key to success moving forward is "D" and "tending"....I have known Fowler since his freshman year of HS and love the kid to death. However, the Chaminade trio (Zenker, Dunne, and Danny F.) need to elevate their respective games for the team to make it back to Memorial Day weekend...As always, I expect the Devils to light up the scoreboard. That is only half the battle though; we need to improve upon keeping balls out of our net as well.

Rowe has looked locked in in the faceoff-x the last few games...If he allows us to play "make it, take it", it does relieve some of the pressure on our young defense. However, I never want to count on a game winning 65-70%. Hence the need to play better when the balls is not in our possession.

 

[dbav]

Let's get to business.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Fowler's play in the cage and the Rowe brothers at the faceoff X will dictate how far we go in the tournament. I think we can beat any team in the country, but we need stellar performances at keeper and FOGO.

Super stoked for the game tomorrow night!

 

[dbav]

Can you post a full list of the field?

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Can you post a full list of the field?

Link to the bracket attached:

http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/lacrosse-men/d1

 

[dbav]

Great, thanks.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

I wish we had UNC's draw to the Final Four. Oh well, time for us to take care of business!

 

[dbav]

Honestly, I take us over anyone this time of year. We always start slow and pick it up now. Bring on everyone, haha.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Honestly, I take us over anyone this time of year. We always start slow and pick it up now. Bring on everyone, haha.

Amen! Coach Danowski is the best at getting the most out of his team come May.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Let's kick some Ass. We need more national championships at Duke!

OFC

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Let's kick some Ass. We need more national championships at Duke!

OFC

Amen, ODD! I love that we're building a dynasty in lacrosse. Easily the best program in D1 lacrosse in the modern era.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Amen, ODD! I love that we're building a dynasty in lacrosse. Easily the best program in D1 lacrosse in the modern era.

It truly is amazing, Mark. There have never been better days for Duke athletics than now.

OFC

 

[Mark Gastineau]

It truly is amazing, Mark. There have never been better days for Duke athletics than now.

OFC

Indeed. Basketball dominating. Lacrosse dominating. Football on the rise. Absolutely love it!

 

[Dad2ze]

Mark you at the game?

 

[dbav]

Is there a limit on the net of long poles that can be on the field at 1 time?

 

[Dad2ze]

Middy and Defense can have long poles but Attack can't. I am not sure on limit, but Ohio state has four on field now.

P.S. The OSU fans here are obnoxious!!!

 

[dbav]

Thanks. I was wondering why there aren't more long pole middles.

 

[Dad2ze]

Is there a limit on the net of long poles that can be on the field at 1 time?

The answer is 4

 

[Dad2ze]

Thanks. I was wondering why there aren't more long pole middles.

My son is a short stick middy. Defense is long poles but only one middy can have a long pole.

 

[Hofman19]

Well.....That certainly did not go the way we wanted.....I feel bad for the seniors and the offensive units. Not a single time this season did the defense or cage protectors play a full game....There were glimpses of solid defensive play at points during the season, but all in all, because we could not stop anyone, every game became a "fat man's softball game" where the only way to feel secure was to put up 15-20 goals.

We are a young team and will come back better from this heartache....Maybe with a year under their respective belts, Fowler and the D-unit will come back tougher in 2016.

The tending has been weak for the last three years. The fact that we managed to still win back-to-back crowns without a credible stopper puts us ahead of the game. We all got a little spoiled because it just seemed that no matter how bad we played in cage, our team would always do enough offensively to overcome it. That dangerous game finally bit us last night.

Now that Duke is out, I am throwing my support behind Albany...

 

[Dad2ze]

Well.....That certainly did not go the way we wanted.....I feel bad for the seniors and the offensive units. Not a single time this season did the defense or cage protectors play a full game....There were glimpses of solid defensive play at points during the season, but all in all, because we could not stop anyone, every game became a "fat man's softball game" where the only way to feel secure was to put up 15-20 goals.

We are a young team and will come back better from this heartache....Maybe with a year under their respective belts, Fowler and the D-unit will come back tougher in 2016.

The tending has been weak for the last three years. The fact that we managed to still win back-to-back crowns without a credible stopper puts us ahead of the game. We all got a little spoiled because it just seemed that no matter how bad we played in cage, our team would always do enough offensively to overcome it. That dangerous game finally bit us last night.

Now that Duke is out, I am throwing my support behind Albany...

Agreed! Defense is way young but mark my words...we will compete again next year. As long as Carolina loses! Go to Hell Carolina!!!!

 

[crazyduke3]

Yep our youth just was not ready this year at all on defense. A LOT of tough losses because we couldn't get stops.

Oh well, I can't complain we've had some really good years and a lot of talent that will be ore seasoned next year.

 

[Dad2ze]

The fans didn't seem into it yesterday at all. Myles trucked in a few times but back out. David Planning too the same under-handed rip and scored everytime. We had no answer at all. Seniors we are losing aren't huge but the good thing is that the D will be solid the next three years.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Unfortunate ending. Hopefully this makes our young guys hungrier for next season. Considering what we bring back next year, I expect us playing for the title in 2016 and sending out Myles Jones a 3-time champ.