Ground Ball Notebook: Battling Mother Nature

Mother Nature Changes Blue Devils Schedule

For the first time in recent memory, the Duke men's lacrosse team was forced to postpone a game because of Mother Nature. The Blue Devils, schedule to travel to Stony Brook for a game Feb. 22, were unable to make the trip because of a winter storm that impacted Baltimore flights as well as flights into the New York City area. In 2014, Duke was forced to move the Denver game to the turf practice fields and in 2009 Duke played Holy Cross on turf as well due to snow. However, Sunday's postponement of the Stony Brook game because of weather is believed to be the first since the college lacrosse schedule moved to February.

A look at some snow pictures from last weekend

Photo by Inside Lacrosse/Zach Babo

Snow photos: @TigerLacrosse topped @HofstraMLAX in the elements http://t.co/m17uXWOy99 pic.twitter.com/39FJHaWJn9

— Inside Lacrosse (@Inside_Lacrosse) February 22, 2015

Congrats to @HCrossMLax on a great win, but there are just some things I truly do not miss about college lacrosse ❄️ pic.twitter.com/Q7Tknj8lWg
— Peter Baum (@pbaum15) February 21, 2015

Duke Back in Action with Weekend Double Header

After having a week off from game competition, the Blue Devils resume their schedule with a weekend double header versus No. 10 Harvard Saturday and Providence Sunday. It is the third weekend this season Duke will have played back-to-back games. This is the most back-to-back games played by Duke in program history. Duke played games on consecutive days twice in 2013, going 2-2 in those four games.

Blue Devils in the Statistical Rankings

There was very little movement in the NCAA and ACC statistical rankings after not playing this past weekend. The Blue Devils' 14.50 goals per game are four in the ACC and eighth nationally, while their eight assists per game are third in the conference and 11th among Division I programs. Myles Jones leads the conference in assists and points per game and ranks sixth and fifth nationally in the respective category. Junior goaltender Luke Aaron tops the ACC list in saves per game and is 18th nationally. Jones 24 overall points are the most in the country.

Second Ranked Foe Awaits Duke Saturday

Tenth-ranked Harvard visits Koskinen Stadium Saturday to face off with the Blue Devils at noon. The No. 10 Crimson is the second ranked opponent for Duke after it fell to No. 1 Denver 17-13 Feb. 14. Overall, Duke will face eight teams in the USILA top 20, including Nos.1-5. Marquette, which Duke will travel to April 18, is a new addition at No. 17 in the latest coaches' poll.

Opponent	IL	LM	USILA
Denver	1	1	1
Syracuse	2	3	2
Notre Dame	3	2	3
North Carolina	5	4	4
Virginia	5	6	5
Harvard	13	12	10
Loyola	15	13	14
Marquette	16	16	17

Streaking Heading into the Weekend

Myles Jones heads into the weekend on a 21-game point streak. The junior midfielder has scored at least one point in each of his past 21 games dating back to Feb. 23, 2014 … He has 46 goals and 35 assists for 81 points in that span and is one of 26 players to have scored at least one point in 20 straight contests.