Duke Beats No. 16 High Point 27-8 to Remain Unbeaten

Wednesday, March 10

Durham, N.C.

7 P.M.

Duke University

High Point

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Beats No. 16 High Point 27-8 to Remain Unbeaten

3/10/2021 10:52:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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DURHAM – The second-ranked Duke men's lacrosse team turned in a dominant performance Wednesday night, beating No. 18 High Point, 27-8, to remain unbeaten on the season. The Blue Devils were led on offense by Brennan O'Neill's five goals and Michael Sowers' five points.

Twelve different Blue Devils scored goals and four players had hat tricks as Duke improved to 7-0. Defensively, Duke held High Point without a goal for 20:56, the sixth time this season the Blue Devils have kept their opponent off the board for at least 15 minutes.

The 27 goals scored are the most by a Duke team since 2000 when the Blue Devils racked up 29 against St. Andrews. It is the most goals against a Division I program since Duke had 28 versus Ohio State in 1989. Overall, the goals total ranks fifth all-time in a single game since the program started in 1938.

Senior Cameron Mulé registered his first career hat trick, while Nakeie Montgomery had three assists. Notching his first career point with an assist was sophomore AJ Delgado. Both Phil Robertson and JP Basile posted two goals and an assist and shortstick defensive midfielder Jake Caputo had a goal and an assist. Veteran midfielder Kevin Quigley scored his first marker of the season.

The Blue Devils, playing their second game in four days, caught fire offensively midway through the first quarter. After trading goals with the Panthers in the first eight minutes, Duke put on an offensive clinic, rattling off 14 unanswered goals for a 15-2 lead with 2:27 remaining in the second quarter.

O'Neill had four goals in that stretch, including three in a span of 24 seconds. The Blue Devils scored on both extra-man opportunities and eight different players notched tallies in 19:03.

High Point's Jack Vanoverbeke stopped the run with just over a minute remaining in the half, sending the Panthers into the locker room trailing, 16-3. Asher Nolting led the Panthers overall with three goals and an assist.

Duke continued to fire on all cylinders in the second half and scored 11 more in the final 30 minutes. Among the notable moments on offense in the second half was junior faceoff specialist Jordan Ginder dishing his first assist of the year and Delgado providing the pass for the first of Phil Robertson's two goals.

Ginder also went 5-of-6 in the faceoff game as Duke used five different players at the X. Dan O'Connell took a season-high 23 faceoffs and won 13, while Joe Stein went 3-for-3. Jake Naso was successful on 2-of-4 and Trey Bender was 1-of-3 on the night. O'Connell also finished with eight ground balls.

Defensively, Duke was outstanding yet again. The Blue Devils forced 17 turnovers with JT Giles-Harris recording three caused turnovers and picking up two ground balls. Tyler Carpenter picked up five ground balls and Braden Burke had four. Junior Wilson Stephenson earned his first career start at close defense, corralling two ground balls.

In goal, Mike Adler made eight saves in 36 minutes of action. Turner Uppgren and Andrew Bonafede both made two stops. The Panthers' three goalies combined for five saves in defeat

Duke outshot High Point, 51-38, and won the ground ball battle 42-23. The Blue Devils did not foul over the course of the 60 minutes and went 2-of-3 on extra man.

The Blue Devils close non-conference action Sunday at Jacksonville. Faceoff is set for 3 p.m., on ESPN+.

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