Naso Sets Duke Faceoff Record in 21-9 Victory at High Point

Saturday, February 10

High Point, NC

2 p.m.

Duke University

2-0

High Point

1-1

Duke

High Point Panthers

Jake Naso wins a faceoff against High Point in men's lacrosse

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Naso Sets Duke Faceoff Record in 21-9 Victory at High Point

2/10/2024 5:17:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Duke senior attackman Brennan O'Neill registered eight points from two goals and six assists and Dyson Williams added five goals to lead the second-ranked Blue Devils to a 21-9 victory in men's lacrosse action at High Point Saturday afternoon.

The highlight of the win came at the faceoff dot as Jake Naso became Duke's all-time faceoff wins leader with 17 victories. He finished his day 17-of-31 to push his career total to 818, passing Duke star Brendan Fowler's record of 816. The Blue Devils move to 2-0 overall while High Point is 1-1.

Duke's starting attack unit of O'Neill (2g, 6a), Williams (5g) and Josh Zawada (3g, 3a) had a combined 19 points.

How it Happened

Sophomore Charles Balsamo got Duke started with a high bouncer 2:08 into the game. Winning each of the game's first three faceoffs, High Point scored the next two goals for a 2-1 lead five minutes into the game.
Behind consecutive wins from Naso at the faceoff dot, Duke answered with a pair of goals from Williams 22 seconds apart for a 3-2 advantage. Zawada provided the first assist and O'Neill had the second dime. The Blue Devils tacked on two more goals for a 5-2 lead at the 3:44 mark of the frame.
The Blue Devils finished the quarter with three goals in the final 1:35 to take an 8-3 lead into the first break. Five different players scored a goal for Duke in the opening 15 minutes.
Scoring slowed in the second quarter as Duke needed 5:28 to get on the board. It was Aidan Danenza throwing in a pass from Charles Balsamo on the man-up possession for a 9-4 edge.
High Point scored twice in the period, bringing it to 9-5 at halftime.
Freshman Benn Johnston jump-started a 7-0 run in the third quarter with rifle into the top right corner in the first minute. The Blue Devils followed with six more to extend the lead to 12, 16-5. Williams had three in the spurt and Zawada had two goals and two assists.
The Blue Devils added four goals in the fourth quarter to come away with the 21-9 road win. Graduate school transfer Brock Gonzalez punctuated the win with his first career goal as a Blue Devil. Freshman Tomas Delgado also had his first career goal in the final stanza.
Duke was outstanding on defense, forcing 19 turnovers, and holding High Point to nine goals. Freshman Patrick Jameison made 14 saves in three quarters of action while Griffen Rakower had four in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils' man-down squad was 4-of-6. Kenny Brower scooped up five ground balls as Duke won the battle on the ground, 47-30
High Point was led by Tommy Meehan and Matt Lutzel with two goals apiece. Five Panthers had two points in the game. Zack Overend made 12 saves in 50 minutes of action.

Notes

Naso moved to 13th in NCAA Division I history with 818 faceoff wins. He also picked up 13 ground balls to give him 456 for his career, ranking 19th overall in NCAA Division I history and 19 shy of passing Fowler's Duke record.
Williams and O'Neill continued their goal scoring streaks. O'Neill has 96 goals in 30 straight games while Williams made it 76 goals in the past 24 games.
Williams and Zawada registered their 32nd and 21st career hat tricks, respectively. Johnston notched his first three-goal game. O'Neill finished with two goals and six assists for eight points – his 24th game with at least five points and 13th with at least three assists.
Gonzalez and Delgado notched their first career goals in a Duke uniform.
Zawada handed out three assists to give him 102 for his career. His six points give him 227 for his career.

Up Next
Duke returns home Feb. 17 to host Saint Joseph's. Faceoff at Koskinen Stadium is at noon.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's lacrosse, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMLAX".
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