Duke beat Harvard following a 13-day layoff.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Freshman attackman Justin Guterding enjoyed a nine-point afternoon with six goals and three assists to lead No. 6 Duke to a 21-14 victory against No. 13 Harvard in on Saturday. Eight different Blue Devils scored at least one goal in the victory.
“I’m just trying to get open for the middies,” Guterding said. “Chad Cohan had a great day with three [goals] and two [assists]. Myles [Jones] and Deemer [Class], they create the space and are drawing doubles. We’re just running our offense and it’s just going to be open. Coaches just tell us to keep doing our job and we’ll get a lot of points.”
Following a 13-day layoff, the Blue Devils (4-1) posted a season-high 21 goals -- 10 in the first half -- on 58 shots en route to their 19th consecutive home victory. Jack Bruckner added four markers for Duke while Chad Cohan chipped a three-goal, two-assist performance. Harvard drops to 1-1 on the year.
Senior Jack Rowe was outstanding at the faceoff X, winning 24 of 35 draws and picking up 17 ground balls. Both are career highs, while the 17 ground balls are the most since Brendan Fowler had 18 against Syracuse last March. The 24 faceoff wins match Fowler’s total against the Orange a year ago and are one shy of tying his 25 wins versus North Carolina in 2013. Overall, Duke won 27 of 39 faceoffs.
“For the first three years I had CJ [Costabile] and Brendan [Fowler] as really good role models to learn from,” Rowe said. “This year being a senior, I just want to step up knowing guys are kind of looking at me to get them the ball. The faceoff is a team game. There are three guys and the wings we have are the best in the country.”
The first quarter featured eight total goals, with Harvard (1-1) claiming a 2-1 lead less than four minutes into the contest on a goal by Philip Wagley. Duke responded with a 6-1 run to take a 7-3 advantage on Guterding’s tally at the 13:34 mark of the second period. Harvard, capitalizing on a few Blue Devil miscues, used three consecutive goals to close the half to trim Duke’s lead to 10-8 at intermission.
The Blue Devils outscored the Crimson by a 4-2 margin in the third quarter and after Deke Burns tallied early in the fourth quarter to make the score 14-11 in favor of the Blue Devils, Duke pulled away with another 6-1 spurt. Guterding again headlined the run with a pair of tallies to bring his season total to 20.
Other multi-goal scorers for the Blue Devils included Deemer Class (2), Myles Jones (2) and Tanner Scott (2). DefensemanEthan Powley carded a team-high three caused turnovers. Freshman Mitch Russell threw in a goal and handed out an assist in his first career start as the attacking trio of Guterding, Bruckner and Russell combined for 16 of Duke’s 31 points.
In the Duke net, starter Luke Aaron was credited with nine saves while allowing 12 goals. His counterpart, Harvard’s Jake Gambitsky, posted 14 saves while surrendering 19 goals.
For the Crimson, Devin Dwyer had two goals and three assists.
