DURHAM, N.C. – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team battled toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the country, narrowly falling to #7 Duke in an 11-9 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• A defensive affair over the opening six minutes saw each team record just one shot, Collin Campbell's attempt on goal equaled by the Duke goalkeeper.
• The Blue Devils struck first, but an immediate response from Ben Dutton on the ensuing possession equalized the score at 1-1.
• After a pair of shots from the Hawks were stuffed by the goalkeeper, Campbell's third time asking was the charm to put the Hawks in the lead. Just two minutes later, Dutton turned provider as Tyler Moore scored his first goal of the season to push the advantage to 3-1.
• The Blue Devils cut the deficit with two minutes to play, but the Hawks again responded by winning the ensuing face-off and capitalizing on an extra-man opportunity as Braedon Chayes netted his first strike of the year.
• A pair of goals from Duke in the opening two minutes leveled the score before continuing on a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead.
• The Hawks forced Duke into two failed clears in as many possessions before Griffin Mallory capitalized and slotted home a goal to cut the deficit in half. The St. Joe's defense held the hosts scoreless over the last 8:53 of the second quarter to maintain the 6-5 deficit heading into the break.
• St. Joe's forced Duke into turnovers in three of its first four possessions to start the second half before Mallory doubled up his total with his second goal of the game to tie the score at 6-6.
• The teams alternated goals over the final seven minutes as Andrew McAdorey and Mac Christmas countered Dutton's second goal of the game to help Duke take an 8-7 lead into the final frame.
• A pair of goals from the hosts extended the lead to three with under seven minutes to play.
• Mark Watters and Jesse Jason recorded goals on either side of a Duke tally to cut the lead to two with four minutes remaining.
• A late save from Tommy Gross gave the Hawks a chance to cut the advantage to one, but the ensuing possession came up short after a shot from Dutton rattled the pipe before the following shot was saved by the Duke goalie. The Blue Devils were able to run off the remaining 30 seconds to hold on to the two-goal victory.

 
GAME NOTES

• Ben Dutton and Griffin Mallory each recorded a pair of goals and assist to lead the Hawks with three points.
• The Hawks assisted on five of the nine goals, five different players recording an assist.
• Levi Verch added two caused turnovers with a team-high six ground balls.
• Campbell added three caused turnovers and four ground balls along with his goal.
• Tommy Gross added five saves on the day with five ground balls and a caused turnover.
• Conor Trant finished 10-21 at the face-off with three ground balls.
• Tyler Moore and Braedon Chayes scored their first career goal while Campbell scored his first goal of the season.
• The Blue Devils outshot the Hawks 32-25 while St. Joe's edged Duke 20-16 in shots on goal.
• St. Joe's forced the hosts to just 11-18 on clear attempts for just a 61.1 percent clear percentage. The Hawks also limited Duke to just 1-5 in its extra-man opportunities.

 
UP NEXT
The Hawks return to Sweeney Field for a home bout against Monmouth on Tuesday, February 18 at 4 p.m.