College Crosse NCAA Tournament Recap: Duke Holds Off Richmond For 12-11 Victory

The Duke Blue Devils held off a late Richmond Rally to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals by a final score of 12-11. Duke’s Nakeie Montgomery (3Gs, 2As) & Brad Smith (2Gs, 3As) led the team in scoring with five points apiece. Additionally, Joe Robertson, CJ Carpenter, & Joey Manown all chipped in with two goals each. The Blue Devils defense also had a very good day as the unit harassed Richmond into committing 18 turnovers in the game.

Richmond jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but Duke then scored 3 out of the next four goals to tie the game up at 3. Richmond again retook the lead thanks to their fourth goal of the game with 10:53 left in the second quarter, however, Duke closed out the period with a 4-1 run to go into halftime up 7-5.

The Spiders opened up the third quarter with two goals to tie the game up at 7, but the Blue Devils responded by scoring the next five goals in the third to go into the fourth up 12-7. It looked like Duke was going to cruise to a comfortable win, but Richmond battled through the final 15 minutes and was able to cut the deficit to 12-11 with 26 seconds left on the clock. However, Duke won the ensuing face-off and then ran out the final seconds of the game to preserve the one-goal victory.

Tate Gallagher played well today for Richmond as he finished with four goals on the afternoon. Mitch Savoca, Ryan Lanchbury, & Ryan Lee also chipped in with two goals each. Star attackman Teddy Hatfield was held without a goal, but did have two assists this afternoon. Richmond goalie Jack Rusbuldt struggled in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the game, but he did play well in the first 1st & 4th, holding the Blue Devils to only one goal in those two periods.

Duke advances to play the winner of tonight’s Johns Hopkins vs. Notre Dame game. This is the third Elite 8 trip in a row for the Blue Devils.