Greer Leads No. 4 Duke To 12-2 Win Over No. 17 Penn State

Tuesday, March 8

Durham, N.C.

TBA

Duke University

5-0

Penn State

2-2

Penn State

Duke

Greer Leads No. 4 Duke To 12-2 Win Over No. 17 Penn State

3/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

March 8, 2005

Box Score

Freshman attackman Zack Greer pushed his NCAA-leading goal total to 21 with a five-tally performance and the Duke defense held Penn State scoreless for the first 42:57 of the game as the fourth-ranked Blue Devils defeated the 17th-ranked Nittany Lions, 12-2, in men's college lacrosse action on Tuesday afternoon in Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils improve to 5-0 on the year while the Nittany Lions fall to 2-2. Duke now leads the all-time series with Penn State, 7-0.

"I thought we came out with a good mindset, and we executed the gameplan," Duke head coach Mike Pressler. "We were fortunate to beat a good Penn State team today, and we have a very tough challenge with Loyola this Saturday."

Matt Danowski put Duke on top for good at the 11:28 mark of the opening period with an unassisted goal, and Greer found the back of the net on a feed from Kyle Dowd less than two minutes later for a 2-0 advantage. Dan Flannery and Bret Thompson scored goals to give the Blue Devils a 4-0 lead after one quarter.

Greer then tallied three consecutive goals in a span of 3:10 in the second quarter before Matt Zash closed out the first half scoring with an unassisted goal at the 6:43 mark. After Greer's fifth goal of the day pushed the lead to 9-0, Penn State got on the board with 2:03 remaining in the third period on Gil Pearsall's goal from Nate Whitaker.

Flannery, Dowd and K.J. Sauer each scored goals for Duke in the final period before Penn State's Will Culter recorded an extra man goal from Chris Gannett with 2:56 left to account for the final margin.

Greer now has 21 goals on the season to lead the country. Flannery finished the day with two goals and one assist. In the Blue Devil net, Aaron Fenton recorded nine saves against just one goal allowed in 53:33 of action while the Duke defense limited the Nittany Lions to just one goal in seven extra man opportunities.

Penn State goalkeeper Chris Courteau registered 12 saves while Greg Gurenlian won nine-of-12 face-offs and secured a team-high six ground balls.

Duke hosts Loyola on Saturday at 3 p.m. while the Nittany Lions travel to face Stony Brook on Saturday, March 19 at 1 p.m.