The Boston University men’s lacrosse season came to an end on Sunday afternoon at Nickerson Field, falling 15-8 to Duke University. BU took a 2-1 lead early in the second quarter but would not lead again, as the Blue Devils rode an 11-goal run to lead Duke to its 11th victory this season.
Duke took a 1-0 lead early which was matched by a goal from James Burr, the first of his three tallies of the afternoon. Cal Dearth, also with three goals, gave the Terriers their only lead of the game to make it 2-1.
That’s when the flood gates opened.
Led by five goals from Deemer Class, the Blue Devils offense exploded for a seven goal output in the second quarter alone. Class, the tenth overall selection in the 2016 MLL draft, had been slumping going into the contest, without a goal in his last ten shots prior.
Chad Cohan added three assists and a goal to the Duke point total, while Justin Guterding, Brad Smith, and Jack Bruckner each had two goals. Tewaaraton leading candidate and MLL first overall pick Myles Jones scored one.
Goaltender Danny Fowler made four saves in the first quarter, stopping several point-blank BU shots to allow Duke to go on its run. He was replaced by Luke Aaron between the pipes in the fourth quarter.
Christian Carson-Banister made 15 saves, including seven in the second quarter. Carson-Bansiter, a junior, made every start for the Terriers in the crease this season.
Along with the hat tricks from Dearth and Burr, sophomore Ryan Hillburn tied a career high with five points, four of them assists. Hillburn could have broken his career high with a goal in the third quarter that was called back. However, a replay on the television broadcast made it appear that the goal should have stood.
Hillburn was injured in the first game of the regular season and it took some time for him to return to his role as a regular attackman. The sophomore was still able to finish the season with 20 points after scoring 25 goals a year ago.
The season for BU comes to a close while Duke is expected to be one of the teams to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. BU ends its season with an 8-7 record, the most wins in program history, and the first time the team has finished with a winning record.
