#14 Denver men’s lacrosse (4-4) played a 11 am MT game today against #6 Duke (8-0) at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.  The game was decided in the second quarter when Duke’s offense came alive with seven unanswered goals.  The Blue Devils won a tight game at 8-7.  It was DU’s fourth game this year against a top 20 team and the Pios were Duke’s toughest opponent to date.

Denver came out strong to start the game with Rory Graham getting on the board at 11:32.  Senior Chase Bruno followed at 9:37 to make the score 2-0.  Kaysey Choudry and Marek Tzagournis rounded out the scoring in the first period to make it DU 4, Duke 0.  Both teams had four shots on goal and faceoffs wer 5-3 in the Blue Devils favor.

Before this game Duke was holding teams to 6.14 goals and just 29.4 shots per game.  The second period saw Duke’s offense rise up!  The Blue Devils immediately got on the board at 14:52 and then added six other goals by six players.  Denver was held to no goals to make it a Duke 7, Denver 4 score at halftime.  Duke had 12 shots on goal to only one by DU.

The Pioneers found the net again to start scoring in the third quarter, with leading scorer redshirt junior Cody Malawsky scoring twice at 11:37 and 6:23.  Both teams were shooting the ball with 12 by Denver and 11 by Duke.   Faceoffs were equal at 2-2.  The score was 8-6 in favor of the Blue Devils at the end of three quarters.

Denver tightened up their defense in the fourth quarter and did not allow any shots on goal by Duke.  Senior Chase Bruno scored the lone goal for both teams, but DU could not break the seven goal mark and it was 8-7 Duke to end the game.  For the game, Duke had the clear advantage of 22 shots on goal to Denver’s nine.  The Pios also had 17 turnovers to Duke’s 10.

DU have had a tough non-conference schedule with teams having multiple NCAA lacrosse titles in Syracuse (10), Cornell (4) and Duke (3).  They begin their Big East schedule on Sunday, March 28 at 1 pm against Georgetown, who is ranked #13 in the most recent Inside Lacrosse Poll.