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December 15, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. -- Twelve home games, an appearance in The First 4 and the annual ACC Tournament highlight Duke's 2006 men's lacrosse schedule announced on Thursday by head coach Mike Pressler.

The 2006 schedule features the three other national semifinalists from a year ago in Johns Hopkins, Maryland and Virginia along with three additional NCAA Tournament participants -- Army, Cornell and Georgetown. The Blue Devils are coming off last year's 17-3 campaign that included the ACC regular season championship and a berth in the NCAA title game. Duke will return nine starters from a year ago including a pair of First Team All-America picks in junior attackman Matt Danowski and senior midfielder Matt Zash.

"Without a doubt, this is the most challenging home schedule we've ever assembled," Pressler noted. "Playing North Carolina, Cornell and Georgetown in an eight-day span will be a terrific test for us. Hopefully we are up to the challenge. We've added some new teams to the regular season schedule like Cornell, Holy Cross and Bellarmine and we've got Villanova back after a one-year absence. Another twist for 2006 is hosting Denver on the Sunday after our exam period. It will be the job of the coaching staff and our captains to have the team ready to play every time we take the field, because each opponent will present a difficult test."

Duke opens the 2006 schedule with five consecutive home games, kicking the slate off against Butler on February 18. After facing Villanova (Feb. 25) and Bellarmine (Feb. 2, the Blue Devils host ACC foe Maryland on Saturday, March 4. A date with Holy Cross on March 7 concludes the opening homestand, and Duke then travels to San Diego, Calif., to meet Loyola in The First 4 on March 11.

Four straight home affairs follow the trip to the west coast with the Blue Devils entertaining North Carolina (March 1, Cornell (March 21), Georgetown (March 25) and Mount St. Mary's (March 2. A trip to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State on April 1 precedes a rematch of last season's national championship game between Duke and Johns Hopkins on April 8 in Durham.

On April 15, the Blue Devils close out the league ledger at Virginia, and then host Army one week later. The ACC Tournament returns to Baltimore, Md., on April 28 & 30, and Duke plays its final regular season contest on May 7 at home versus Denver.

Danowski is back after leading the nation in points last season with 92 on 50 goals and 42 assists, and is joined by Dan Flannery (46 goals & 26 assists; NCAA All-Tournament Team) and Zack Greer (57 goals & 15 assists; ACC & National Rookie of the Year; 3rd Team All-America) as returning starters on Duke's attack line. Danowski earned ACC Player of the Year and USILA National Attackman of the Year honors in 2005 as a sophomore. At midfield, Zash returns along with fellow starters Kyle Dowd (20 goals & 11 assists) and Peter Lamade (16 goals & 13 assists; 2nd Team All-America) and second line members Bret Thompson (15 goals & 3 assists) and Fred Krom (6 goals & 5 assists). The defense is anchored by team captain David Evans, Casey Carroll (HM All-America) and Tony McDevitt (2nd Team All-America) along with long stick midfielder Nick O'Hara, who earned a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament Team last spring, and defensive midfielders Ed Douglas and Michael Ward.

2006 Duke Men's Lacrosse Schedule

February
18 -- BUTLER, 1 p.m.
25 -- VILLANOVA, 3 p.m.
28 -- BELLARMINE, 3 p.m.

March
4 -- MARYLAND, 2 p.m.
7 -- HOLY CROSS, 3 p.m.
11 -- vs. Loyola, 8 p.m. (San Diego, Calif.)
18 -- NORTH CAROLINA, 3 p.m.
21 -- CORNELL, 3 p.m.
25 -- GEORGETOWN, 1 p.m.
28 -- MOUNT ST. MARY'S, 3 p.m.

April
1 -- at Ohio State, 12 noon
8 -- JOHNS HOPKINS, 1 p.m.
15 -- at Virginia, 7 p.m.
22 -- ARMY, 12 noon
28 & 30 -- at ACC Tournament (Baltimore, Md.)

May
7 -- DENVER, 12 noon