Denver tops Duke in 'Battle at Bethpage'

As it turns out, you can go home again. If you're part of the heavy Long Island contingent playing for the Duke men's lacrosse team, though, you may very well not want to.

It was, indeed, a rude homecoming for the 10 local players who came home to play in the "Battle at Bethpage" Saturday in Duke's 12-9 loss to No. 10 Denver in front of a standing / kneeling / climbing-room only crowd at Bethpage High School.

Duke, which slipped from third to fourth in the national rankings after a loss to No. 1 Syracuse last week, will likely take another, more significant dip in the rankings less than 11 months after winning the national championship. To borrow another adage: Oh, what a difference a year makes.

"I haven't heard anything about repeating for a month or two at least," said Huntington product Zach Howell, who had a goal and an assist. Though a touch downtrodden after losing before the hometown crowd, he said that it was "exciting to be back on Long Island. You can tell the difference . . . I was signing autographs."

That may be so, but it was Denver's Todd Baxter and freshman keeper Jamie Faus who brought the star power. Chase Carraro's unassisted score with 10:13 left in the third broke a tie at 5 and Baxter scored the next three Denver goals, the last on a behind-the-cage pass from Alex Demopoulos to put the Pioneers up 9-6 with 2:55 left in the third.

Duke (8-4), playing without West Islip standout Justin Turri (ankle), had trouble finding the back of the cage, as Faus made 16 saves for Denver (8-2), including seven in the fourth period. Down by two with 3:46 left, the Blue Devils squandered a man-up opportunity, getting off only one shot, blocked by Faus. Faus made two more saves -- one at point-blank range and one on a dive to his left on the rebound -- with about a minute to play to preserve the margin of victory.

Baxter had four goals and an assist and Duke's Robert Rotanz scored four times -- the only Blue Devil to put up a crooked number. Manhasset's Terrence Molinari scored a goal.

"We're thrilled to have been a part of this," said Denver coach Bill Tierney, himself a Long Island native. "We wanted to make sure we had a presence on the Island . . . There are a few places you can get a lot of good players and we have to search a little."

So far, that search has taken Denver to orthodox lacrosse hunting grounds, such as Connecticut for Faus, and places farther off the lacrosse map, such as Eden Prairie, Minn., Baxter's hometown. He called it a hockey haven.

The number of Long Islanders on Denver? That would be zero.

Either way, Tierney said it was a step in the right direction for his Pioneers. For a sport long dominated by East Coast teams, that direction may very well be west.