US Lacrosse Magazine released the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Preseason Top 20 on Dec. 17. Team-by-team previews will be unveiled on uslaxmagazine.com through the end of the month and will also appear as part of the magazine’s NCAA preview edition in February.

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No. 5 Duke

2019 Record: 13-5 (2-2, Atlantic Coast Conference)
Coach: John Danowski (14th year)
Assistants: Ron Caputo, Matt Danowski, Ned Crotty

All-Time Record: 573-416-1
NCAA Appearances: 23
Final Fours: 12
Championships: 3

2020 Schedule

* = neutral site

Save the Date
April 9

One could toss a dart at Duke’s strong schedule and find an intriguing matchup. The April 9 date in Charlottesville jumps out, since Virginia broke a long streak of futility against Duke in the NCAA semifinals a year ago, before winning its sixth title. Maybe a real rivalry has returned.

Duke’s Identity Starts with its Defense

There was a time not long ago when Duke was a lacrosse powerhouse that made you think of its offense first.

With stars ranging from Matt Danowski to Ned Crotty to Jordan Wolf to Myles Jones and Deemer Class — and let’s not forget faceoff studs such as Brendan Fowler — the Blue Devils were well-known for bludgeoning opponents with an array of weapons that fueled one of the game’s top five scoring units.

As recently as 2015, the year after the Blue Devils won their third NCAA title over a five-season stretch, Duke ranked just 54th in scoring defense by allowing 11.56 goals per contest.

Since then, it bears noting how much more balanced Duke increasingly has become as its defense has tightened up.

It certainly helps that Duke brought in close defensemen like Cade Van Raaphorst and J.T. Giles-Harris, who recently have anchored some of the stingier defenses in the John Danowski era. Last year, both players earned first-team All-America honors. Van Raaphorst graduated.

Giles-Harris, who was a Tewaaraton nominee as a junior, is back for one more turn. Arguably Duke’s best player, he will lead a less experienced defense this year than the unit that, in the first year of the shot clock in 2019, gave up only 9.61 goals per game — seventh-best in Division I.

The backbone of that group also included short-stick defensive midfielder Terry Lindsay — a fixture on the rope unit since 2017 — and goalie Turner Uppgren. Both are back as senior starters this year.

“The game has really changed over the last few years. Division I defense is no longer about just lining up on your man all day,” Duke defensive coordinator Ron Caputo said. “You’ve got to help in a team setting and still get to your man. Offenses are so good at getting their best players matched up with short sticks [midfielders]. Guys [on defense] are constantly running around picks and dealing with two-man games. Communication is really important.”

The Blue Devils effectively have blended talent with the nuances of playing team defense — for example, by calling out good recovery slide packages on time, by countering the picking game with good help and maintaining good spacing.

In 2017 and 2018, the Blue Devils ranked 12th in scoring defense, surrendering fewer than nine goals per game each season. Last year’s outstanding defense supported an offense that ranked 21st by averaging 12.2 goals, Duke’s lowest output since 2012.

This year’s defense also will press on without the services of promising sophomore long-stick midfielder Wilson Stephenson. He suffered a broken leg during the Blue Devils’ NCAA quarterfinal victory over Notre Dame on May 18. He is expected to sit out while completing his recovery.

Projected Starters

A – Joe Robertson – Jr. – 42 G, 17 A
A – Joey Manown – Sr. – 26 G, 11 A
A – Dyson Williams – Fr.
M – Nakeie Montgomery – Jr. – 21 G, 18 A
M – Kevin Quigley – Sr. – 14 G, 5 A
M – Garrett Leadmon – Soph. – 12 G, 7 A
FO – Brian Smyth – Sr. – 51.6 FO%, 98 GB
LSM – Austin Meacham – Gr. – 14 CT, 39 GB (Dartmouth)
SSDM – Terry Lindsay – Sr. – 12 CT, 24 GB
D – J.T. Giles-Harris – Sr. – 26 CT, 38 GB
D – Walker Scaglione – Sr. – 1 CT, 6 GB
D – Kenny Brower – Fr.
G – Turner Uppgren – Gr. – 9.66 GAA, 50.3 SV%

Tewaaraton Watch
J.T. Giles-Harris, D, Sr.

No defenseman has ever won the award, but the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-American certainly qualifies as the best overall player on a Duke team that has come to increasingly rely on its defense to win games. Giles-Harris, a former all-state safety from New Jersey, also has expressed interest in using a post-graduate year to play Division I football. His brother, Joe, plays linebacker for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

X Factor
Nakeie Montgomery, M, Jr.

Montgomery, a great dodger with vision, bloomed late as a freshman. He started five games and gave the offense a jolt in the postseason, as Duke fell just short against Yale in the NCAA title game. Last year, he had 27 of his 39 points in the last eight games. A breakout year could be at hand.

National Rankings

1,300

This refers to “The 1300 Club” in the Blue Devils’ strength and conditioning program. First-team All-American J.T. Giles-Harris is its lone member. During the past offseason, Giles-Harris deadlifted 610 pounds, cleaned 325 and benched 370.

Enemy Lines

“After three years of not making final four weekend, Duke has made the last two and was a goal away from back-to-back championship day appearances. Can the returning leaders take the next step to get them back to the days of 2013 and 2014?”

“Will lose some early but be there in the end. What else is new?”