Greer's Six Goals Guide No. 4 Duke Past No. 9 Johns Hopkins, 11-9

Saturday, April 7

Baltimore, Md.

1 p.m.

Duke University

Johns Hopkins

Greer's Six Goals Guide No. 4 Duke Past No. 9 Johns Hopkins, 11-9

4/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

BALTIMORE, Md. - Zack Greer scored six goals and Matt Danowski handed out four assists to lead fourth-ranked Duke to an 11-9 victory over ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins in front of 4,802 fans at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md.

The Blue Devils, winners of four straight, improve to 9-2 on the year while the Blue Jays, who have now lost three in a row for the first time since 1990, fall to 4-4. The win marked Duke's first over Johns Hopkins since the 1997 NCAA Tournament when the Blue Devils prevailed in a 12-11 overtime decision in College Park, Md.

Stephen Peyser put Johns Hopkins on top less than one minute into the contest with an unassisted goal. Duke had an opportunity to tie the game at the 11 minute mark, but Fred Krom's shot from the right side bounced off the left post. With 8:42 remaining in the opening quarter, Greer received a pass from Danowski and beat Blue Jay goalkeeper Jesse Schwartzman from 10 yards out on the left side to make the score 1-1.

After Duke won the ensuing face-off with a groundball by Bo Carrington, and the Danowski-to-Greer combination hooked up again for a goal - Greer's 30th tally of the year - to give the Blue Devils a 2-1 advantage at the 7:32 mark. Peyser's second goal of the afternoon came on a feed from Paul Rabil with 6:47 on the clock and knotted the game at 2-2.

The Blue Devils regained possession following a Blue Jay turnover, and an unassisted goal by Brad Ross with 54 seconds left and Duke would lead 3-2 after one period. Johns Hopkins struck quickly in the second quarter as Matt Bocklet tallied a goal just 17 seconds into the period to tie the contest at three goals each.

Duke took advantage of an extra man situation when Danowski sent a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net to push the Blue Devils ahead, 4-3, with 7:13 left in the second quarter. The Blue Jays answered at the 5:43 mark when Steven Boyle bounced in an unassisted goal past Duke goalie Dan Loftus.

After Loftus saved an extra man chance for the Blue Jays, a scramble for the ball in front of the Duke net resulted into a fast break

Photo by Tim Oris

opportunity for the Blue Devils. Tony McDevitt scooped up the ground ball and pushed ahead to Michael Ward, who found a streaking Parker McKee down the middle of the field. McKee darted into the offensive end and drew the defense before passing to Greer, who deposited his third goal of the game to push Duke back ahead with 2:57 left in the quarter. With just 36 seconds left before halftime, Greer secured a ground ball on the crease and tossed another into the net for a 6-4 Blue Devil lead. Johns Hopkins scored the final goal of the half, with Kevin Huntley finding the back of the net with just one second on the clock.

Casey Carroll's first goal of the season came on an assist from Greer at the 14:23 mark of the third period and less than one minute later Gibbs Fogarty recovered a loose ball in front of the net and scored for an 8-5 advantage. After the Blue Jays won the next face-off but turned the ball over, Danowski set up Greer again for a Duke goal at the 12:33 mark, making the score 9-5. Johns Hopkins pulled within 9-6 at the 10:53 mark when Boyle tallied an unassisted goal.

Ward gained possession with a defensive takeaway near midfield and the possession led to Greer's sixth goal of the day -- on another assist from Danowski - to give the Blue Devils a 10-6 lead at the 5:47 mark. The Blue Jays wasted little time in trimming the margin back to three when Jamison Koesterer won the ensuing face-off and scored an unassisted goal just six seconds later.

With 8:31 remaining in the fourth period, Johns Hopkins' Michael Kimmel scored from Paul Rabil to make the score 10-8 in favor of the Blue Devils. Duke's Dan Oppedisano won the following face-off to set up Max Quinzani's dodge from behind the goal and high bounce shot that slipped past Schwartzman. The tally came at the 6:22 mark and pushed the lead back to three. At the 2:58 mark, Rabil's goal from Peyser brought Johns Hopkins back within two goals at 11-9. Duke secured the ensuing face-off, and held possession until one minute left on the clock. The Blue Jays then misfired four times as Duke held on for the two-goal victory.

Loftus closed the afternoon with 13 saves while Schwartzman logged 12 in the Hopkins net. Carroll was credited with a game-high seven ground balls.

The win snaps Duke's four-game losing streak against Johns Hopkins while giving the Blue Devils four road wins this season over Maryland, North Carolina, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins.

Today's six-goal effort marked Greer's 19th career hat trick and his 12th game with four or more goals. In 39 career games, the Whitby, Ontario, Canada native now has 108 tallies to rank in a tie for eighth place on Duke's all-time chart.

Danowski finished with four assists on the day, giving him 13 over the past three games. The Farmingdale, N.Y., product now has 99 helpers in his career, leaving him one shy of becoming just the fifth player in ACC history and the 34th player in NCAA history to register 100 or more goals and 100 or more assists in a career. With five total points against the Blue Jays, Danowski now has 209 in his career and ranks in a tie for fourth place on Duke's career scoring chart and tied for 13th on the ACC's all-time list. His 99 career assists stand as the 17th-highest total in ACC history.

Duke returns home to face defending national champion Virginia on Saturday, April 14 at 1 p.m.