Tag: Brennan O’Neill

Eight Duke lacrosse players named to USILA All-American teams

Brennan O’Neill and two teammates earned USILA First Team All-American honors this week as eight total Blue Devils made the national squad.

USILA released its All-American teams for the 2024 collegiate lacrosse season on Thursday, and eight Duke players made the cut in some way, shape, or form.

Attacker Brennan O’Neill and defender Kenny Brower both made the First Team for a second consecutive season, joined by midfielder Andrew McAdorey on the top team.

O’Neill finished with a team-high 81 points in just 19 games, scoring 54 goals and adding 27 assists. McAdorey added 28 goals and nine assists from the midfield.

Short stick defensive midfielder Aidan Maguire earned the team’s lone Second Team nomination, and long stick midfielder Tyler Carpenter made the Third Team. Both players finished the season with three goals, and Maguire added four assists despite his other responsibilities.

Attackers Josh Zawada, who led the Blue Devils with 45 assists, and Dyson Williams, who led the team with 61 goals, both earned Honorable Mentions. Faceoff Jake Naso joined them on that list, giving Duke eight total honorees for the season.

Duke lacrosse takes down Syracuse, advances to ACC title game against Notre Dame

Duke men’s lacrosse booked a ticket to play Notre Dame in the ACC title match on Sunday after the Blue Devils jumped out to a 9-2 lead over Syracuse in the opening period.

Duke took down Syracuse 18-13 in the ACC semifinals on Friday night, setting up a battle with No. 1 Notre Dame on Sunday.

The Blue Devils jumped out to an immediate lead over the Orange with five goals in the first five minutes. Senior attacker Brennan O’Neill assisted two of the first three goals, one to Dyson Williams and one to Josh Zawada, and junior midfielder Andrew McAdorey scored two unassisted goals in the early going.

McAdorey ended with five goals, the most of any player on either team. He tacked on another with five minutes left to play in the first period, this time on an assist from Zawada, and he assisted Grant Mitchell on Duke’s last goal of the period in the closing seconds.

After 15 minutes of play, the Blue Devils led 9-2. The Orange tacked on three quick goals to start the second, but McAdorey and O’Neill each added a goal to keep Syracuse at arm’s length.

Duke took an 11-6 lead into halftime, and after an early Syracuse goal to open the second half, the Blue Devils promptly ended the game. Five unanswered goals, including two from O’Neill (who ended the game with four) and two from Williams, broke the game wide open. When the curtain closed on the third period, the Blue Devils led 16-7 with 15 minutes between them and the championship match.

Zawada added a goal in the opening 90 seconds of the fourth period to stretch the lead to 10, and the Blue Devils coasted from there. The Orange made a furious rally, including two goals in the final minute, but they could only pull within five.

The Blue Devils advanced to the ACC title game with the victory, where the top-ranked Fighting Irish await with the conference championship on the line.

Duke men’s lacrosse places four on All-ACC teams

Duke lacrosse saw four players named All-ACC.

John Danowski’s Blue Devils have entered the month of May, and for Duke lacrosse, this is when things truly matter. Duke’s lacrosse program is held to a higher standard than simply getting to the NCAA Tournament, instead judged by how far they make it and whether they make it to Memorial Day weekend.

That remains to be seen, but the Blue Devils are certainly an NCAA Tournament team, and a big reason why is thanks to the play of their newly minted four All-ACC players.

The ACC office announced the selections for this year’s All-ACC teams, and Duke saw four of them receive honors.

Brennan O’Neill, the superstar attackman, was chosen for his fourth All-ACC team, making him the second player in Duke history to accomplish this feat. Jordan Wolf was the other. He is Duke’s best player on the field and has led the offense with 44 goals and 23 assists for 67 points.

Defenseman Kenny Brower earns his third consecutive honor to join former Blue Devils Tyler Hardy and Cade Van Raaphorst as the only Duke defensemen to garner three conference awards.

Duke’s best midfielder, Andrew McAdorey, earned his first All-ACC team selection. His production hasn’t wavered after bouncing from midfield to attack and, this year, back to the midfield. This season, he has 21 goals and seven assists for 28 points. He has scored at least a point in all 15 games.

Last but not least, Michigan transfer Josh Zawada has acclimated himself to Durham quite well. He came into the program as Michigan’s all-time leader in points and goals and has dominated as a facilitator for Duke this year. He leads the team and is ranked fourth in the ACC for assists.

Duke’s four selections were tied for second most with Virginia. Meanwhile, the ACC regular season champs and the number one team in the country, Notre Dame, had seven selections.

Duke is heading into the ACC Tournament in Charlotte to capture its eighth conference tournament championship. That starts Friday as they take on Syracuse at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on ACC Network.