Game of the Year #12 Duke vs USA

This was probably one of the biggest upsets in the year of lacrosse. It was only an exibition for Duke, but it was an important tuneup for USA. So, what happened in our #12 game of the year?
In a game in Orlando, Florida, in January, was the biggest upset of the year in lacrosse. A game that could have set Team USA back.Duke had been down in the game by five goals and were able to come back. Max Quinzani had the game wining goal with 5.8seconds left.
Team USA jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter, with goals by Matt Streibal, Matt Zash, and Drew Westervelt. But Duke brought the heat in the second quarter, with Joh Offit scoring twice and a goal from Stephen Coyle.
Will McKee and Offit scored again, tying it quickly into the second. But USA settled down their defense in the third quarter, and took the lead 7-5 with goals from Westervelt and Paul Rabil. But USA go undisciplined, and took three penalties. Zach Howell scored two straight extra man goals to tie the game at seven a piece. Brandon Mundorf again put team USA up by one, but Duke would not stay down, with Robert Rotanz tying it.
USA had an extra man opportunity in their last possession, but Duke's defense was able to hold them without a goal. But after the opportunity with USA with the ball, Kyle Dixon dropped it and a scrum for the ball ensued. Long pole Parker McKee and also a member of team USA's forty man roster recovered the ball, and fed it to Quinzani for the game winner.

Notes:
Drew Westervelt and Josh Offit each got hat tricks on the night. Offit was the MVP. Duke played a terrific defense all night, even without all-American players Mike Manley and CJ Costabile. Duke was also forced to use three goaltenders in the game. Devon Sherwood, a five year senior, starting the game, but briefly. He was quickly replaced by Mike Rock, who was later replaced by Drew Wigrizer. Their fourth goaltender, Sean Brady, was serving a suspension.



Media Coverage:
Lacrosse Magazine
Inside Lacrosse

The Lacrosse Blog did not cover this game, as it did not yet exist in January.

Another Look at the MLL

Last week I took a look at the Boston Cannons, Long Island Lizards and Toronto Nationals. This week let's look at how the season has progressed for the Denver Outlaws, Chesapeake Bayhawks and Chicago Machine.
Let's take a look where these teams are in the standings:

Boston 7-3
OUTLAWS 7-3
Long Island 5-5 2 GB
MACHINE 4-6 3 GB
BAYHAWKS 4-6 3 GB
Toronto 3-7 4 GB

The Outlaws have had a good year all season, fighing all season long to stay with Boston at the top spot of the league. Led by the 33 points of Team USA player Brenden Mundorf, the Outlaws can score with the help of Drew Westervelt, Dan hardy, and Max Seibald. Also on the roster is Team USA goaltender Jesse Schwartzerman, who is third in the MLL in GAA.
The Chicago Machine had a good start to the MLL season, but you imagine it's hard bouncing around city-to-city with no real home stadium. With Casey Powell opting out of playing this season, the Machine selected Ned Crotty of Duke with their first overall pick. Along with the Leveille's, the Machine can be a dangerous team if they find a way into the playoffs.
The Bayhawks, led by perennial all-star Peet Polion, could also be a team to look out for, or they could easily fall into irrelevance if the Nationals find a way to get hot. With Pollion second to only Matt Poskay in scoring, you have to go all the way down to ninth to find the Bayhawk's next leading scorer in Kyle Dixon. Chesapeake is second to last in scoring to only Toronto, a team that may turn it on later on in the season.

Prospect Preview: Max Quinzani

After the NCAA Championships, it's only fitting I do a prospect preview for the national champions. Max Quinzani is a senior on Duke who will no doubt be drafted by an NLL team. He is expected to be a second round pick, and may be picked by an MLL team this Sunday as well.

Quinzani is a two-time all American at Duke, and now a national champion. He has worked well with linemate Ned Crotty, also expected to be drafted. Quinzani is from Duxbary Massachussets, and got his lacrosse career starting there.

Quinzani recently did an interview with ESPNBoston.com. Quinzani was the captain of the Blue Devils in the 2010 season. He made second team all NCAA in the 2009 season. Only 5'8 and 170 pounds, he is not the most physical player, but he works harder than anyone on the field.

Duke Wins National Championship

What an ending to an outstanding NCAA tournament. The Duke Blue Devils topped the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 6-5 in overtime. This is Duke's fourth NCAA Championship appearance in seven years, and the first one they won.
Notre Dame got on the board early, but Duke tied it quick and it was tied at 2 in the second period. Zach Brennamen scored both first quarter goals for the Irish. Zach Howell and Steve Schoeffel scored to take a lead, but Brennamen scored his second to tie the game. Duke showed and uncharacteristic smothering defense over the underwhelmed Notre Dame offense. The Irish were able to control the game to the pace they wanted and hold the Duke offense in check, but Scott Rodgers allowed in two soft goals that were the difference. Rodgers will go into the offseason as a top NLL prospect and he made some game saving saves in the fourth, but in the end, they weren't ranked for a reason.
In the second period, no one scored until Schoeffel's goal with 1:24 left in the half, with the assist going to Mike Quinzani(Next prospect preview). The third period started with the score 3-2 Blue Devils, but the Fighting Irish changed that quickly. David Earl, who was all over the place all game, scored to tie the game. It didn't last long as Howell scored his second of the game four minutes later. Brenneman scored the hat trick to tie the game with only 1:12 left in the period, and it headed into the fourth period tied.
Sean Rogers scored for the Irish with 11:56 left in the fourth. Justin Turri turned around and tied it with 8:44 though. It would remain tied into OT.
The face-off specialist CJ Costabile scored only his fourth goal of the season five seconds into the period on a break away to give the Blue Devils their first ever national title.
Notes:

* Rodgers has nothing to hang his head about, he will have a bright career in the NLL or MLL. I'll try to get a prospect preview of him up sometime.

* I was impressed by Duke's smothering defense on the younger Notre Dame team.

* Congrats to the seventeen seniors on Duke who dealt with the whole mess back in 2006 to have a national title.