No. 15 Marquette didn’t come close to hanging with No. 16 Duke Friday night, losing 16-1 in the worst offensive showing in program history.
Kyran Clarke scored Marquette’s only goal to tie the game at 1-1 midway through the first quarter. Duke proceeded to shut out the Golden Eagles for the final 51 minutes.
“Duke played a really good game tonight,” Marquette head coach Joe Amplo told GoMarquette.com. “Their coaches have done a great job making that defense shine athletically. They’ve improved tremendously, and they handled us tonight all over the field. The score was deserving of the way those guys played and the way we didn’t play.”
Jack Bruckner scored a game-high four goals for Duke. Justin Guterding scored three goals and three assists, and Myles Jones scored two goals and one assist. The 15-goal margin is the largest defeat in Marquette history.
Marquette struggled at the face-off X, as Duke’s Kyle Rowe won 10 of his 15 draws. For the first time in eight games, Zack Melillo, who went 7-for-19, did not take all of Marquette’s face-offs. Gryphin Kelly won both of his draws.
Cole Blazer made eight saves in 50 minutes of time. Backup Matt Barone made three saves and gave up two goals in the final 10 minutes.
Marquette finishes off its regular season Saturday against No. 2 Denver. A victory would lock up Marquette’s first BIG EAST regular season championship and give them the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which begins in two weeks. The game can be watched on CBS SportsNet.
