May 8, 2004

Despite a four-goal effort from sophomore midfielder Matt Zash, the Duke men's lacrosse team closed out the 2004 season with a 13-7 loss to Army as 1,542 fans looked on in West Point, N.Y.

Duke ends the year with a 5-8 record while the Black Knights improve to 10-4, winning 10 games for the first time since 1996.

Army opened the game with three goals by Chris Couch, Mike Obringer and Marko Kostovic before Zash's goal at the 1:39 mark of the first period made the score 3-1. The only goal of the second quarter was tallied by Duke's Matt Danowski as the Black Knights took a 3-2 advantage into halftime.

The third period proved to be the difference in the game, as Army outscored Duke by a 6-1 count in the quarter. Army's Matt Luyster and Duke's Dan Flannery scored goals in the first 3:33 of the period, but the Black Knights then reeled off seven consecutive goals -- five to close the third quarter and two to begin the fourth period -- to claim an 11-3 lead on Kostovic's goal with 13:10 remaining in the game.

Zash's back-to-back goals trimmed the lead to 11-5, but the teams would trade two goals apiece over the final 5:25 of the contest to account for the final margin.

Danowski chipped in one goal and two assists for the Blue Devils while the Black Knights received two goals each from four different players in their balanced attack.

In goal, Army's Matt Darak was credited with 18 saves while allowing seven goals. For Duke, four goalies saw action: Aaron Fenton (45 min., 9 GA, 10 saves), Dan Loftus (9:35 min., 3 GA, 0 saves), Bryan McAleer (2:45 min., 0 GA, 0 saves) and Jack Hill (2:40 min., 1 GA, 0 saves).