WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke eliminates UNC in men's LAX tourney

May 22, 2010

Princeton, N.J. — Zach Howell scored four goals and fifth-seeded Duke dominated ACC rival North Carolina on Saturday, reaching its fourth straight national semifinal with a 17-9 victory over the Tar Heels.

The Blue Devils (14-4) scored seven goals in the first quarter and never trailed for the final 55 minutes to improve to 4-0 against North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. They'll take on top-seeded Virginia or No. 8 seed Stony Brook at the Final Four next weekend.

"Just a terrific game by Duke," North Carolina coach Joe Breschi said. "They played with a sense of urgency that we didn't match. Over the first 10 games I think we were one of the top defenses out there, but the last five games we gave up double digits, so that is something we will have to revisit and improve upon for years to come."

Ned Crotty and Maz Quinzani scored three goals each for Duke, which has won 12 of the last 13 meetings with North Carolina (13-3). Crotty also had three assists. of the last 13 meetings against North Carolina (13-3). Crotty also had three assists.

"Any time you are in the NCAA tournament, it's a huge deal," Crotty said. "Getting to the quarterfinals is a huge deal, but then you know the fact that it's North Carolina and it definitely adds something that no other opponent can add. It's obviously a huge rivalry and that was definitely motivation for us this past week."

After the Tar Heels scored on five of their first six shots against starting goalie Mike Rock, Duke coach John Danowski turned to freshman Dan Wigrizer with 3:21 to go in the second quarter and North Carolina scored only four times the rest of the game.

Jimmy Dunster led the Tar Heels, who were out-shot 35-29, with four goals.

"Sometimes in the tradition of our sport, it's like you can't switch goalies, just like you can't switch quarterbacks in football," Danowski said. "Why not? We've got two guys we can win with and be successful with."

Duke began the season with three losses in its first five games, including a 13-7 setback at home to North Carolina on March 10 to halt an 11-game win streak against its rival.

"It took some time to get our legs under us and congeal as an offense," Quinzani said. "Now, we're not just waiting to take a good shot. We're waiting to take the best shot."