Previewing Duke’s 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule

The Duke Blue Devils are the 68th team in our 2020 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the fourth team from the ACC. Duke finished 13-5 overall in 2019 and 2-2 in ACC play. The Blue Devils lost to Notre Dame in the ACC semifinals, but defeated Richmond and the Fighting Irish again in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Virginia in the national semifinals.

Here’s their entire 2020 schedule:

Who’s In?

• Air Force Falcons (2/1)

Who’s Out?

• NA

Circle These Dates

• 2/8 at High Point: One of the two biggest upsets of the season, the Panthers came into Durham and used a huge fourth quarter to beat the Blue Devils by four. Duke was coming off a win over Furman four days earlier, but High Point had players like Asher Nolting and Chris Young on offense to score goals and Tim Troutner who made 19 saves in goal. This time around, the game is at High Point but on a Saturday. The Panthers also won’t have Troutner or Young due to graduation.
• 2/15 at Denver: It’s been one of college lacrosse’s best annual early-season meetings, typically between two teams in the top 10 or 15. They’ll meet for the eighth consecutive year and the first out west since 2017 when the Blue Devils lost by five. Duke has won only once in Denver back in 2003.
• 2/22 vs. Penn (in Charlotte, NC): Duke crushed Penn by 10 goals in a rain-filled game in Durham. That was before Penn was who they ended up being for the rest of the season. The Quakers are coming off a quarterfinal appearance from a year ago and look to get to Championship Weekend with players such as Adam Goldner, BJ Farrare, and goalie Patrick Burkinshaw leading the way.
• 3/22 vs. Syracuse: After a tough nonconference schedule, the Blue Devils’ schedule gets even tougher with ACC conference play beginning. They’ll first host Syracuse in a late-March showdown at Koskinen. Duke has lost the last four meetings to Syracuse dating back to the 2016 ACC Championship, with three of those games being decided by a goal including last year’s overtime thriller, and 2-7 since the Orange became members of the ACC. The two teams could be on a collision course to meet a couple of times this year, perhaps even in the NCAA Tournament.
• 4/9 at Virginia: Duke hosts Syracuse and North Carolina in their first two conference games before going on the road to take on Notre Dame and reigning national champion Virginia. Despite dominating the Cavaliers for the entire decade, the Blue Devils fell to the Cavaliers in overtime in the NCAA semifinals for their first loss since 2010. The Wahoos ended up winning their first national championship since 2011. Duke has won the last 14 regular season matchups with Virginia and look to make it 15 with Joe Robertson and JT Giles-Harris leading the way.