Devilish scare in Murphy’s debut

With less than 10 minutes left in play and the score tied at 11-11, the men’s lacrosse team appeared poised to open its season with a major upset over one of the top programs in the country.

The Quakers had controlled the previous three quarters but a late Duke run in the final stanza threatened to tip the balance.

Five unanswered Duke goals in the last five minutes of Saturday’s game in Durham, N.C., left the Quakers with a 16-11 loss and first-year head coach Mike Murphy wondering what might have been.

“We didn’t go down to play well and lose,” he said.

Entering the weekend, the Blue Devils (2-1) were not at their best.

Starting the season ranked No. 2, Duke could only scrape a one-point win over Bucknell in its season opener before losing 11-7 to then-No. 9 Notre Dame a week ago. As a result, the program sunk to the No. 8 seed.

Murphy made it clear that Penn (0-1) was ready to knock the Atlantic Coast Conference champions even further down the rankings.

“We played well enough to do that for 55 minutes or so, but we didn’t finish the job, unfortunately,” he said.

“When [Duke] needed it, they made good plays at the end, and we didn’t when we had the same opportunities.”

The Quakers got off to a flying start, establishing a 4-1 lead in the first 15 minutes with three different scorers.

Five minutes into the second quarter, the Quakers held a 6-2 lead — their largest of the game — and headed into the locker room up 7-4.

Penn’s early lead stemmed from to a strong showing by the team’s underclassmen in the first quarter.

Sophomores John Conneely and Dan Savage netted the first three goals, while freshman Rob Fitzpatrick earned his first two collegiate points with an assist and the fourth goal in the 30th minute.

Co-captain Justin Lynch recognized the potential of his newest teammates following their performance against such a highly ranked first opponent.

“Each and every one of them played on the field like they’d been out there before. We couldn’t ask for anything else,” he said. “They’re definitely going to be play-makers this season.”

Meanwhile, the Quakers’ defense was helped by the return of senior Brett Hughes, who sat out the whole of last season due to an injury.

“It’s never really great to be watching from the sidelines, so it was awesome to be back out there competing,” Hughes said.

Duke got the first score of the third quarter courtesy of senior Ned Crotty, who sparked a Blue Devils comeback that left the score nine-all at the end of the period.

With the game on the line in the final quarter, the drama moved up a notch.

Duke freshman Josh Offit scored twice for the home side in less than a minute, but Penn answered with two goals of its own to even the score at 11-11.

Five tense, goal-less minutes followed before Duke’s ultimate run closed the books on the Quakers.

Though it started out as a homecoming dream come true for Murphy — a former Duke lacrosse player — the game ended in disappointment.

“We just let the game slip,” Hughes said.

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