Wolf, Dionne lead No. 2 Duke to 17-8 rout over Rutgers

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

DURHAM, N.C. – Jordan Wolf and Josh Dionne finished with 10 goals combined as the second-ranked and defending NCAA-champion Duke Blue Devils men’s lacrosse team dominated the visiting Rutgers Scarlet Knights, posting a 17-8 victory on Senior Day at Koskinen Stadium on Saturday.

The two graduating attackmen helped to make the final regular season game for them and eight others a memorable one as Wolf’s six goals and eight points tied career and season highs while helping to extend the Blue Devils’ current win streak to eight games.

Duke now sits with a 12-2 overall record and at 4-1, good for second place, in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) standings.

Midfielder Myles Jones posted a goal and a career and season-high five assists, totaling a career and season-high six points, while helping a few other of Duke’s eight total scorers to tally markers against Rutgers keeper Jake Andersen.

Deemer Class tallied two, while Case Matheis, Christian Walsh, Will Haus, and Jack Bruckner found space to score single goals each, and beat the Scarlet Knights goalie who made 11 saves on more than half (28) of the 51 shots fired his way.

Starting Duke goalkeeper Luke Aaron made seven saves on 15 shots out of the 30 that made it to the cage via Rutgers’ attackmen Christian Trasolini and Scott Klimchak who led the visiting team’s scoring with two goals apiece.

Kyle Turri came into the game with just over 10 minutes to play in the final quarter to relieve Aaron with the Blue Devils leading 16-8.

Playing under familiar wet and cold conditions on its home field, Duke worked hard for ball possession from the faceoff X as Brendan Fowler won 15 of 28 draws while battling the top draw man in the country in the Scarlet Knights’ Joseph Nardella who finished the game claiming 13 of 28 faceoffs.

Forcing Rutgers (7-7, 2-3) to commit 20 turnovers and picking up 13 more ground balls (43-30), Duke executed a flawless clearing game (22-22) and took advantage of both its inside and perimeter shooting and scoring game to post its third consecutive win in the two teams’ all-time series (3-1).

With the victory, this year’s Blue Devils senior class that includes Wolf, Dionne, Fowler, Casey Carroll, Dax Cohan, Luke Duprey, Chris Hipps, Henry Lobb, Charlie Payton, and Christian Walsh has posted an impressive 57-18 record to date and over the past three-plus seasons that includes three NCAA semifinal appearances, one ACC Tournament title, and the 2013 NCAA title.

Duke will now focus on adding another ACC Tournament championship to its list of accomplishments as it prepares to face the third-seeded Syracuse Orange at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. next Friday.