A
s Myles Jones, Deemer Class and Christian Walsh took turns making their marks on another perfect postseason run by Duke
University, it seemed hard to believe that three months earlier, the most lethal midfi eld in college lacrosse looked like a messy experiment. Back in early March, when the Blue
Devils hit their low point during a two- game slide at Maryland and Loyola, few could have foreseen how much this trio had in store for opponents down the road. Few could have guessed how Jones and Class, two lightly tested sophomores, would join forces with Walsh, a battle-proven senior, to transform Duke’s year. By the time the Blue Devils cemented their second straight NCAA title on Memorial Day with an 11-9 win over Notre Dame, the lacrosse world knew plenty about the group that had started in the shadows of senior star Jordan Wolf and the heralded Duke attack. By season’s end, everybody knew about the midfi eld that shed its inexperience and inconsistency and morphed into the most potent offense this side of Albany. Wolf, whose 103-point season and NCAA championship most outstanding player laurels any other year would make him an easy choice for the Tewaaraton Award that went to Albany’s record- breaking Thompson brothers, was the primary engine of an offense that produced 15 goals per game. But the meteoric rise of the Duke
midfi eld changed the Blue Devils’ season. After putting up barely fi ve points per outing as a unit through the season’s fi rst nine games, Duke’s top line tore through its last 11 games by averaging 12 points per contest. “Once that fi rst group started coming together, nobody could really defend them,” Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said after a 19-11 NCAA quarterfi nal loss to the Blue Devils in which Jones pummeled the Blue Jays with three goals and four assists. Nearly an hour after the win over Notre Dame clinched Duke’s third NCAA championship in fi ve years, Jones stood in the service tunnel at M&T Bank Stadium, where he accommodated a cluster of autograph-seekers. Now a recognized, sought-after star, Jones sounded weary, relieved and in need of a plate of food to aid his tired 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame. He paused to savor the changes he helped effect, especially after Maryland and Loyola beat Duke, the latter in a 14-7 rout on March 9.
34 LACROSSE MAGAZINE July 2014>> A Publication of US Lacrosse
“[Walsh] is the one who stirs the drink. He takes pride in making ‘invisible plays.’”
— Duke assistant Ron Caputo on senior midfielder Christian Walsh
©BILL DANIELEWSKI (CW, WB)
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