Red-Hot Williams Keys Duke Comeback
A see-saw affair between No. 11 Duke and Richmond ended with the Blue Devils on top. Sean Lowrie’s shot over traffic gave Duke a 16-15 victory over the Spiders on Friday evening.
Richmond led 8-4 midway through the second quarter before Dyson Williams took over for Duke (3-2). The freshman from Canada, son of longtime NLL star Shawn Williams, scored four goals in the final 4:28 of the first half, including one just before the buzzer to tie the game at 8.
Williams made it five straight, opening the second half with a quick strike, to put the Blue Devils in front and Duke used a three-goal run to close the third quarter to take a 14-10 lead.
Richmond (2-3) surged late, scoring three goals in a span of just 37 seconds to tie the game at 14 on Tyler Shouts’ goal with 3:41 to play. Duke’s Garrett Leadmon and Richmond’s Ryan Lanchbury traded goals to set the stage for overtime.
Duke’s Jordan Ginder won the faceoff to start overtime and Duke called a timeout. After Owen Caputo’s shot went wide, Cameron Badour found Lowrie cutting to the middle with the shot clock winding down. Lowrie went right-handed over the defense for just his third goal of the season.
Williams had seven goals to lead Duke. Caputo added a hat trick and JP Basile had a goal and four assists. Andrew Bonafede replaced Duke starter Turner Uppgren in goal and made only three saves while allowing eight goals, but two of them came back-to-back late in regulation to keep the game tied.
Shoults paced the Richmond offense with three goals and three assists and Adrian Nash also had a hat trick.
It was the second overtime loss of the season for Richmond. The Spiders lost their season opener, 14-13, to Maryland in double overtime on Feb. 8.