It’s hard to imagine this is the start John Danowski expected for his Blue Devils before the season; five games in, and Duke has lost three and won two. The most recent came Friday against the Pennsylvania Quakers. Penn opened their season with a very impressive 14-9 win over the Blue Devils. Tim Schwalje led all scorers with eight points in the game for the Penn. Duke was outshot 35 to 45 by the Quakers, but had more ground balls (30-26) and won more face-offs (15 of 26). The Blue Devils had a 7-6 lead at halftime, but then was held to only two goals during the entire second half.
Tim Schwalje scored a hat trick and had five helpers against the Blue Devils for a game-high eight points. But fellow Quaker Isaac Bock was right on his heels with four goals and an assist for five total points. Seven other Penn players also scored goals against Dan Wigrizer and the rest of the Blue Devil defense. Face-offs were split between Danny Feeney and Joe McCallion who won seven and four face-offs, respectively. In goal for the Quakers, Brian Feeney finished the game with 15 saves and did a great job slowing down Duke’s high powered attack corps.
For the Blue Devils, freshman Myles Jones has been quite a help so far this year. Jones scored two goals against Penn. Hot-handed Jordan Wolf also added two goals for Duke, as did fellow attackman Josh Offit. Also scoring goals for Duke were Christian Walsh, Josh Dionne and freshman Deemer Class. Brendan Fowler took all the face-offs for Duke and won 15 of 26 (.576%); Fowler has been a huge help for Duke so far and will continue to be throughout the season. Replacing CJ Costabile is no easy task, but Fowler seems to be doing that pretty well so far. In goal for Duke, Dan Wigrizer posted 14 saves; but allowed five in the fourth quarter which ended up being the Blue Devils’ downfall.
The Pennsylvania Quaker’s next game will be Tuesday the 26th as they host Saint Joseph’s (2-1). For Duke, they will face the soon-to-be top ranked Maryland Terrapins at home on March 3rd. Maryland upset the defending champion Loyola Greyhounds in a title game rematch 12-10 on Saturday.
