Duke Leaves No Doubt in First-Round Win over Utah

Atlantic Sun and Atlantic 10 teams have given Duke enough headaches over the years that the Blue Devils know better than to underestimate an opponent just because it does not compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

By the end of the Blue Devils’ NCAA tournament first-round game against Utah, however, it was clear the teams were oceans apart.

Second-seeded Duke ran away with a 19-7 home victory over the ASUN champs.

Dyson Williams scored five goals, Josh Zawada had four goals and four assists and faceoff specialist Jake Naso went 15-for-24 with a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup to lead the Blue Devils (13-5), who will face Princeton or Maryland in the NCAA quarterfinals next Saturday in Hempstead, New York.

Duke blew the game open with five unanswered goals in the first quarter and never led by fewer than four after that. The Blue Devils scored on 11 of 15 shots in the first half and finished shooting 19-for-36 (53 percent) from the field.

“Once we got some possessions under us and started getting going, it felt good. It felt right,” Williams said on ESPNU. “One last game at Koskinen Stadium in front of our fans here in Durham.”

Williams and Zawada are among the 18 graduate-year players on Duke’s roster. Reigning Tewaaraton Award winner and current finalist Brennan O’Neill headlines a seven-member senior class that also includes his former high school teammates Naso and Aidan Danenza.

For those 25 players, 2024 marks the end of the road. Five of them were selected in the Premier Lacrosse League draft earlier this week. O’Neill went No. 1 overall.

“It’s over after this,” said Williams, who put a bow on his five-goal game with a behind-the-back beauty in the fourth quarter. “We have a lot of guys in the locker room who love each other for real. We just want to keep it going.”

Though the motivation to extend the season comes from a place of love — “Relationships have always been really important to us in the program,” coach John Danowski said — O’Neill said the Blue Devils are at their best when they play angry.

Notre Dame blew out Duke 16-6 in the ACC championship game last week. While it did not affect the Blue Devils’ seed, it did serve as a wakeup call.

“We harped on body speed, body movement and creating space for each other,” said O’Neill, who had two goals and two assists. “This whole week we played with a little intensity and anger. When we play with some anger and something to prove, that translates on the field.”

Next Saturday will be a homecoming for Danowski and O’Neill, among others. Ten Duke players are from Long Island. Danowski spent 21 seasons as the head coach at Hofstra, which is hosting the quarterfinals.

“It’s hard to go back and play at home,” Danowski said. “Sometimes you feel the pressure of wanting to play so well in front of your friends and family that you kind of forget how to focus. That’s going to be a challenge for our guys.”