Blue Devils scorch men's lax in fifth-straight loss

In a highly anticipated rematch of last year's national championship game, the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils (11-1) defeated the 11th-ranked Blue Jays (3-5) 17-6 to mark an unprecedented fifth consecutive loss for the Blue Jays. This was the first time the Jays have lost five consecutive games since statistics were kept, a period spanning 125 years.

For Hopkins and head coach Dave Pietramala, this game had huge ramifications. The Blue Jays had lost four straight heading into their match with Duke, including three overtime losses and a thrashing last week against North Carolina, the first time that Hopkins has lost four straight in 18 seasons.

This was also the first time Hopkins and Duke have played each other since last year's national championship game, which the Blue Jays won 12-11. But facing a Duke team with a seven game margin in the win column and keeping in mind that Duke has three of the top offensive players in the country in seniors Matt Danowski and Zack Greer and sophomore Max Quinzani, Hopkins was prepared to come out with full intensity.

"We were focused on doing our jobs to play to the best of our ability," sophomore goalie Michael Gvozden said. "The only pressure we put on ourselves is to get out of the slump we're in."

The Blue Jays got on the scoreboard first with an unassisted score by senior Kevin Huntley, but Duke scored three unanswered goals, one each by Danowksi and Quinzani within 10 seconds of each other, and one by junior midfielder Ned Crotty to go up 3-1 by the end of the first quarter.

The Jays started the scoring in the second quarter by taking advantage of being two men up when senior co-captain Michael Doneger took a pass from Huntley and put one past Duke goalkeeper Dan Loftus to cut the deficit to one. Duke scored two minutes later, but Hopkins evened up the score at four on a pair of goals, the first by junior Austin Walker and the second on a man-up possession by senior midfield Paul Rabil.

However, the run would be short lived for Hopkins. Duke took the lead again just thirteen seconds after Rabil's goal on an unassisted goal by Parker McKee, which started a 9-0 run for the Blue Devils which lasted for 20 minutes and 11 seconds. Greer and Quinzani accounted for five of the goals, while Danowski assisted on four of the goals.

For the Jays, the offense could not get any scoring in the third quarter despite taking eight shots, but more startling was the fact that Duke's high pressure defense held Hopkins to just two successful clears in eight attempts.

"We understood that we'd have to make the most of our offensive possessions going into the second half," Doneger said. "But Duke made the plays that they had to make to pull away with it and we didn't do anything to stop the bleeding."

Senior defenseman Eric Zerrlaut said, "The goals that they earned were frustrating - they came as a result of us not communicating and supporting each other. Many goals were a result of us beating ourselves, in a manner of speaking."

Senior defensemen Matt Bocklet finally ended the scoring drought on a goal off a face-off with 3:14 left in the third quarter. The goal was Bocklet's first of the year, and first since last year's regular season match against Duke. But Hopkins could not start a scoring run as the Blue Devils scored a pair of unassisted goals before Hopkins would score again.

The Jays' final goal would come on a Kevin Huntley shot from Dave Spaulding with 11:50 left in regulation. Zack Greer would score two more goals, both on assists from Mike Danowski, before the final horn sounded and Duke would win by a final score of 17-6.

"We are very disappointed, but the only thing that an athlete can do to put himself in the best position to win the next one is to pinpoint your mistakes, correct them and refocus on an entirely new opportunity to correct this season," Rabil said.

The 11-goal difference was the largest losing margin for the Blue Jays since a 12-goal loss against Syracuse on March 8, 1988. Statistically, Hopkins was overmatched, as Duke won the battle in shots (39-31), ground balls (40-38), face-offs (15 out of 25 for Duke) and saves (10-8). Hopkins also had a season high nine failed clears, and Duke scored four goals in six extra man tries, while Hopkins was only able to convert on two of seven.

"This has been the most challenging season for Hopkins in a long, long time," Doneger said. "Despite that, we can still turn this thing around. I know we can, the players know we can and our coaches know we can."

The first step toward turning this season around will be this Saturday at 2 p.m. Hopkins will take on the University of Maryland Terrapins at Homewood Field in the Homecoming Weekend game. This will be the 104th time that Hopkins and Maryland have played each other, and Hopkins leads the overall series with 65 wins to 37 losses and one tie. A crowd of over 10,000 is expected, and Hopkins will try to get back in the win column for the first time in more than a month.

"Unfortunately, we have had a very difficult time in the past month," Rabil said. "There is only one thing to do at this moment, and that is to continue to work hard in practice and focus mentally on what it will take to win our next game versus Maryland."