They each grew up on Long Island and have enjoyed a mountain of success coaching college lacrosse. But most observers would have expected John Danowski's defending national champion and ACC staple Duke Blue Devils to be miles ahead of Bill Tierney's way out west Denver Pioneers of the ECAC.
Saturday, the team from the Mile High City took charge on the biggest sports day in Bethpage since a couple of golf tournaments called the U.S. Open. Streets were clogged with cars and the pedestrian traffic looked like Times Square. Imagine 6,000 people at a high school venue.
Duke came in with 10 Long Islanders on its roster versus none for Denver in the game at Bethpage High School. The surprising result in a contest benefiting the Bethpage Educational Foundation proved that L.I.'s hotbed of lacrosse has competition in other states.
"Growing up we look out to the East Coast for good players and talent,'' said Denver attack Todd Baxter of Eden Prairie, Minn., who scored four goals. "In Minnesota, an increasing number of players are picking it up. Four or five years ago it became a sanctioned sport.''
Freshman goalie Jamie Faus, who had a huge game with 16 saves, is from Lakeville, Conn. "Once you get out to Denver it's hard to go to school back East,'' he said. And it's not just the Rocky Mountains, he said. "The coaching staff is just amazing.''
That starts with Tierney. "Maybe today will change things a little bit,'' Tierney said after Denver's 12-9 victory. "Maybe people don't know or didn't know what Denver lacrosse was all about. So, we have to search a little bit harder than some of the guys where kids just want to show up at their places.''
Tierney built six national champions with plenty of L.I. talent. But Denver isn't Princeton. Not yet, anyway. "We have young men from Minnesota, California, Kentucky,'' Tierney said.
Giving up a home game in Denver to play Duke here was something of a stroke of genius for Tierney, who said, "We also want to make sure we have a [recruiting] presence here on Long Island. I can't tell you how many Final Fours and tournaments, but the care they took in making this an amazing experience for our players is just second to none. To win the game makes it real special . . . I would give up anything to play in an event like this again. It was just fantastic.''
Danowski enjoyed the venue, if not the result. "There's no other sport where two teams can get together and choose to play at a neutral high school facility,'' he said. "This [Denver] is really a good team. I'm sure they are going to compete for their conference championship and make the tournament. I'd be shocked if they didn't.''
No. 4 Duke had a slight edge in home-field advantage, but No. 10 Denver negated that with its high-powered offense, second in the nation with an average of 13.1 goals per game. Duke's Terrance Molinari of Manhasset scored the first goal on an assist from Huntington's Zach Howell, but both players sensed Duke was in for a tough game.
"It was only the first goal,'' Molinari said. "We still had 60 minutes. It's a long game.''
The season after winning the national title has been a bit erratic for Duke. The Blue Devils began the season 1-2, won seven straight, then lost to No. 1 Syracuse in the Big City Classic. Making the NCAA Tournament is more of an objective than considering another title.
"That's very far from our minds,'' Howell said. "We know it's certainly a tall task to repeat as national champions. Last year has been out of our minds for pretty much the whole season.''
