May 22 — Dave Pietramala isn’t one to gush – the Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse coach is more likely to shout than sugarcoat. He was a bulldog of a defender at Hopkins in the late 80s, and that carried over to his reign as head coach, part of the reason for his two national titles in 2005 and 2007.

But when it comes to Duke – the top seed in the NCAA tournament and the Blue Jays’ opponent in the national semifinal at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Foxborough, Mass. – well, Pietramala can’t help himself. He’s been a head coach for 11 years, and to him, the Blue Devils are as good as it gets.

‘Duke University is probably the best lacrosse team that I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach against,’ Pietramala said of the team that beat his Blue Jays 17-6 earlier this year. ‘They’ve got tremendous players. They’ve found a style of play that is very successful for them.

‘And it’s going to be a heck of task to put together a gameplan and perform well enough to beat them.’

It’s not like the Blue Devils (18-1) and fifth-seeded Jays (10-5) aren’t familiar with each other – especially in the final four. And it’s not like Hopkins hasn’t stopped the boys from Durham, N.C., before. They defeated Duke in the title game in both 2005 and 2007. Then-junior Paul Rabil had six points in the 12-11 win last year for Hopkins.

But this year has a different feel. Because even if the Jays are the defending champs, even if they’ve reeled off seven straight victories, Duke is still the favorite. Understandable, considering the double digit pounding they put on Hopkins earlier.

‘Duke is such a high-powered offense,’ Pietramala said. ‘And we did not handle that well at all. They basically did whatever they wanted.’

The Blue Devils have done that to plenty of teams this year. How? Just look at their attack unit.

There’s Matt Danowski: the fifth-year senior is the reigning Tewaaraton Trophy winner and the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, with 350 career points and 94 points this year (39 goals, 55 assists). Danowski was one of five players who accepted an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, fallout from the false rape allegations that cancelled Duke’s 2006 season.

There’s Zach Greer: Danowski would be a lock to recapture the Tewaaraton if it weren’t for his senior teammate from Ontario. He’s the NCAA’s all-time leading goal scorer, 205 in all (and 64 this year). He pumped in six – to go along with five assists – in the Blue Devils’ 21-10 romp over Ohio State in the quarterfinals in Ithaca, N.Y.

There’s Max Quinzani: The ‘weak link’ of the group, the sophomore has only scored 59 goals this season.

And that’s before you get even get into the midfield, where junior Ned Crotty (17 goals, 17 assists) and senior Brad Ross (24 goals, 8 assists) lurk.

The numbers add up – 15.5 goals a game and innumerable headaches for defensive-minded coaches like Pietramala. Because there is no blueprint to beat Duke – not this year’s team, anyway.

Loyola tried to slow them down in the opening round of the playoffs. The grind worked to a point – Duke sputtered early on before pulling away 12-7.

Ohio State tried a different tack in the quarterfinals: running with the Devils. That only blew up in the Buckeyes faces: it was 9-1 by first half’s end.

But if anyone can stop Duke, it would seem to be Pietramala’s group. They have the horses to do so, seniors like Rabil, midfielder Stephen Peyser and defender Michael Evans, who held Danowski to two points in the title game last year.

That’s why John Danowski, Duke’s head coach and Matt’s father, isn’t ready for the coronation just yet. His team beat Hopkins in the regular season last year too – then fell in the final.

‘You know when you play Hopkins, Dave Pietramala is going to come up with something,’ Danowski said in a conference call Monday. ‘You know, he’s going to come up with something that’s just awesome. So it’s a great challenge and a great opportunity for us.

‘And they are the defending national champions.’

Something easy to forget with all the hype swelling around the Blue Devils.

‘We’re playing a team that, really, everybody thinks should win the whole thing,’ Pietramala said. ‘So we get to go into this without any pressure.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on May 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm