DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 17 University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team executed a perfect game plan to knock off No. 1 Duke, 14-12, Friday evening at a rain-soaked Koskinen Stadium.
The Quakers (3-1) were led by a statement performance out of senior defender
Brendan Lavelle, who totaled six ground balls and two caused turnovers and held reigning Tewaaraton Award winner Brennan O'Neill to just one goal on eight shots as Penn handed the Blue Devils (4-1) their first loss of the year.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn earned just the second victory over a No. 1 team in program history, the first coming six years ago at Franklin Field against this very same Duke program, 10-9.
*It is the Quakers' first win in Durham since 1971, when Penn defeated Duke, 8-7 in double overtime. They had lost four straight on the road to the Blue Devils prior to Friday night.
*Already the program's all-time winningest coach,
Mike Murphy tallied his 99th career victory at the helm. The Duke alum will have an opportunity to reach 100 wins at Penn Sunday against his old college rival, North Carolina, in Chapel Hill.
*
Ben Smith and
Luke DiNola both notched hat tricks on the offensive end, and both also tallied two helpers for five-point evenings.
*
James Shipley (2g, 1a) and
Tynan Walsh (2g, 2a) each scored twice while
Gabe Furey,
Cam Rubin,
Connell Kumar, and
Anthony McMullan all scored once.
*Fresh off winning both Ivy Defensive Player of the Week and USA Lacrosse Magazine National Player of the Week, goalie
Emmet Carroll put together another tremendous effort in the crease, totaling 17 saves and allowing just 12 goals, by far the fewest Duke had scored so far in 2024.
*Lavelle's six GBs tie a career high for the senior. He also caused two turnovers, a season-high number so far.
*Faceoff specialist
Chris Arceri held his own against Duke's Jake Naso—a consensus first-team All-America in 2023—going 10-for-17 from the X in the victory.
*Penn was a perfect 17-for-17 on clear opportunities, while the defense held the Blue Devils to just 16-of-22, forcing 14 turnovers.
How It Happened
After a defensive-minded first five minutes or so, the Blue Devils struck first on a goal from Andrew McAdorey with 9:26 remaining in the quarter.
Anthony McMullan quickly answered back with a strike from
Ben Smith to equalize at 1-1.
Duke scored back-to-back goals to lead 3-1, but
Ben Smith scored right off a face-off win for
Chris Arceri to bring it back to 3-2. Goals from
Luke DiNola and
James Shipley gave the Quakers their first lead of the game, 4-3, to close out the first 15 minutes.
Duke leading scorer Josh Zawada almost immediately found the back of the net to begin the second quarter, tying the game back up at 4-4. An
Emmet Carroll save and a failed clear by the Blue Devil offense led to DiNola's second goal of the night with 8:37 to play, putting Penn back ahead, 5-4.
After the Blue Devils took a timeout, two more Carroll saves gave the Quakers an additional opportunity to score, which Smith took full advantage of off the
Tynan Walsh feed to extend the lead to 6-4 with 3:35 remaining. Duke brought it back within one goal at the 3:11 mark, but
Gabe Furey rocketed a shot past the keeper to give the Red and Blue a 7-5 edge and Carroll made his ninth save of the half to head into the locker room.
Walsh scored to open the second half, pushing the Quaker lead to their largest of the night, up 8-5. A 3-1 run following goals from DiNola and Walsh had Penn ahead by four, 10-6, with 8:47 to play. Brennan O'Neill finally scored a goal with 7:01 remaining, but
Connell Kumar registered his first Penn goal with 5:19 to play, a man-up strike, to give the Quakers a four-goal cushion heading into the final period.
Duke tried to answer Penn back with every opportunity that presented itself early in the fourth quarter, as Andrew McAdorey made it 12-9 with 7:55 to go. A
Cam Rubin tally with 4:28 seemingly put the game out of reach at 13-9, but the Blue Devils' Aidan Danenza single-handedly brought them back with three unanswered. It was a 13-12 Penn lead with 1:22 remaining.
Mac Eldridge won the ensuing faceoff, causing Duke to pull its goalie in favor of William Helm. A double-team wasn't enough to protect Shipley from finding the open net, scoring the game-winner with 51 seconds on the clock.
After three Duke shots in the final 30 seconds to no avail and stellar defense from Lavelle on O'Neill, the Quakers stormed the field to celebrate the thrilling victory.
Up Next
The Quakers complete the Tobacco Road two-step on Sunday afternoon against No. 19 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
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