It was the third time since 2016 that Duke lost to Air Force and the fourth straight year that Duke lost to a lower-ranked or unranked team in February, but Air Force’s 14-13 win against No. 5 Duke on Saturday still opened eyes around the country.
Brandon Dodd, a 6-foot-3 freshman out of Logan, Utah, had a memorable debut for the Falcons, notching eight points and four goals and four assists. Dodd scored two of Air Force’s five fourth-quarter goals as the Falcons completed a comeback from a four-goal halftime deficit.
Duke, playing without 2019 leading scorer Joe Robertson due to injury, found its offensive groove early, scoring the first five goals of the game and closed the first half scoring three of the last four to take a 9-5 lead into the break.
Dodd scored the first two goals of his career to open the third quarter and pull the Falcons within two goals and Braden Host made it difficult for Duke’s offense to do anything moving forward. Air Force’s junior goalie made 13 of his 17 saves in the second half.
Air Force kept chipping away, finally taking the lead at 13-12 with on Quincy Peene’s fourth goal of the game with 3:52 remaining.
Dodd added an insurance goal with 48 seconds remaining before Duke’s Dyson Williams closed the scoring with just seven seconds left. Air Force won the ensuing faceoff to seal the victory.
Cameron Badour and Joey Manown each had hat tricks for Duke.
Marquette Wins Stimmel’s Debut
A match-up of first-time head coaches came down to the wire before Marquette’s Chris Kirschner scored 25 seconds into overtime to make Andrew Stimmel a winner in his debut leading the Golden Eagles.
Cleveland State, led by first-year head coach Andy German, led by as many as three goals in the second half, but needed a goal by Tristan Hanna with just 13 seconds left to force the overtime.
Marquette’s Thomas Washington won the faceoff to start overtime to set up Kirschner’s game-winner. Devon Cowan led Marquette with three goals and two assists and Hanna had three goals for Cleveland State, two of them in the fourth quarter.
Notable
• Maryland took 70 shots, resulting in its highest-scoring output in seven years in a 23-12 win over High Point. (Read More)
• Grant Ament had 10 points (4g, 6a), Mac O’Keefe had six goals and Gerald Arceri won 19 of 21 faceoffs while setting Penn State’s career ground balls record (450) in No. 1 Penn State’s 16-9 win over Lafayette.
• Boston University transfer Chris Gray scored all four of his goals in the opening quarter as No. 11 North Carolina routed Colgate 19-6. North Carolina scored the first nine goals in the game and led 14-1 at the half.
• No. 16 Rutgers scored 14 first-half goals in a 20-9 win over Quinnipiac. Kieran Mullins had two goals and five assists and Ryan Gallagher had four goals.
• Will Yorke scored five first-half goals to spur Bucknell to a 10-1 halftime lead in an eventual 16-9 win over Furman in a game played at Duke.
• Jimmy Perkins scored four goals and Fairfield transfer Colin Burke had two goals and four assists as Utah opened with a 16-10 win over Bellarmine.
• Jacksonville scored the first five goals of the game, led 10-7 and the half and led 14-11 with under nine minutes to play, but Detroit Mercy scored the final four goals of the game, winning it 15-14 on Kyle Waters goal with 1:46 remaining. Waters led the Titans offense with five goals and an assist.
• Providence won its season-opener for the first time since 2014 and snapped a four-game series losing streak against New England rival Boston University, beating the Terriers 12-5 behind a hat trick from Matt Grillo and 10 saves from Toby Burgdorf.
• Holy Cross jumped out to a 7-2 lead and ruined 2019 NCAA Division II champion Merrimack’s debut at the Division I level, holding on for a 13-12 victory. Kevin Kodzis had a hat trick for the Crusaders.
• NJIT won its season-opener for the first time ever, getting five goals from freshman Gavyn Willson in a 24-7 win over Hampton.
• Sean Goldsmith tied a Mercer record with six goals as the Bears beat Division II Florida Tech 18-6.
Scoreboard
Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20
No. 1 Penn State 16, Lafayette 9
No. 4 Maryland 23, High Point 12
Air Force 14, No. 5 Duke 13
No. 11 North Carolina 19, Colgate 6
No. 16 Rutgers 20, Quinnipiac 9
Other Scores
Bucknell 16, Furman 9
Detroit Mercy 15, Jacksonville 14
Holy Cross 13, Merrimack 12
Marquette 11, Cleveland State 10 (OT)
Mercer 18, Florida Tech 6
NJIT 24, Hampton 7
Providence 12, Boston University 5
Utah 16, Bellarmine 10