The Duke Lacrosse Team Is Exactly Who We Thought They Were--Some Certified Shit Pumpers
A lot of people did a lot of different things during this global pandemic. Maybe you used quarantine to pick up a new hobby. Maybe you spent this time getting in shape. Maybe you just played a ton of video games. Who knows, it doesn't really matter. Because what the Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse program did during this pandemic was quickly assemble one of the most lethal offenses the game has ever seen before which is capable of complete and total world destruction.
It all started with Duke being able to flip the commitment of the #1 incoming freshman Brennan O'Neill from Penn State to Durham. That happened before the season shut down last year but that was building block numero uno. The Duke offense was already adding one of the most dangerous weapons in college lacrosse to its roster by bringing in O'Neill, and that was on full display last night as he casually put up 3 straight goals in 24 seconds against High Point.
But when the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to players and the Ivy League looked to be a little hesitant to grant that waiver, that opened the door for Michael Sowers to transfer from putting up preposterous numbers at Princeton to chasing a ring at Duke. It was like Thanos ripping the mind stone out of Vision's skull and snapping half the universe to dust.
So they add the best freshman in college lacrosse as well as the best player in the nation in general. On top of that, they already have one of the most dominant defensemen in the game with JT Giles-Harris (shameless plug to listen to The Crease Dive's interview with JT right here). And some other teams out there have had a chance to pick up some 5th year transfers to attempt to compete with Duke this year. But as we're starting to see, nobody has aimed for the head yet.
It took Duke about 1.5 quarters against Denver in the first game of their season to really start to click offensively. It was 6-1 Denver to start the 2nd quarter of that game and then that's when Duke started to pop off. And sure, that Robert Morris score isn't very impressive either but since that opening week of the season? It's been beat down after beat down after beat down. And yes, they still have an entire ACC schedule to play still. But last night's massacre over High Point was the statement win. The win that sent the message to the rest of the nation that Duke is inevitable.
High Point isn't some dog shit program who should just be happy to be there. I wouldn't call High Point a top tier program yet, but they're a team that can constantly be a pain in the ass to those top tier programs. Just ask the 2019 Duke team. High Point isn't a school that you're going to see playing on Memorial Day Weekend but they're definitely a team that is capable of making any team in the top 10 instantly regret putting them on their schedule. But last night?
27-8 final and even that feels like the game was a little closer than it actually was. This is the type of dominance that we expected to see out of Duke, and this is the type of dominance that we're getting out of Duke. And maybe it'll get a little tougher for them once they have to go up against UNC, Syracuse, Virginia and Notre Dame. But 17 goals and 20 assists for Sowers, 17 goals for O'Neill, and almost 20 goals for Joe Robertson. The oven has been preheated and the Blue Devils are cooking. Here's a quick preview of what's in store for anybody who decides to step in their kitchen.