Duke University Men's Lacrosse

Taking Duke and Himself to the Top Cemented as one of the top coaches in college lacrosse, John Danowski has led the Duke men’s lacrosse team to unprecedented success and himself to the top of the Division I men’s lacrosse wins list during his tenure in Durham. Danowski was introduced as Duke’s eighth head men’s lacrosse coach July 21, 2006 and quickly led the Blue Devils to some of the most successful lacrosse seasons in school history and ultimately to three NCAA Championships – 2010, 2013 and 2014. In Danowski’s 17 years at the helm of the Blue Devils lacrosse program, he has compiled an impressive 240-74 record in leading Duke to nine ACC regular season titles, four ACC tournament titles, 12 appearances in the NCAA semifinals, including eight straight from 2007-14, six in the NCAA title match and ultimately to the 2010, 2013 and 2014 national titles. The 2014 NCAA crown put Danowski among a small group of nine coaches to win three national titles and among eight to capture consecutive crowns. Meanwhile, Duke’s run of eight straight NCAA semifinals rank as the second most of any program since 2000 with Syracuse. In 2019, Danowski made history by becoming the first Division I head coach and only the third across all three divisions to reach 400 career wins when Duke beat Furman 17-9. He currently ranks third all-time among all NCAA lacrosse coaches in the sports history. Breaking Through for the First After three straight trips to Championship Weekend, which included a runn

Carl Christensen is the Senior Associate Director of Sports Performance for Olympic Sports at Duke University, a position he assumed in 2024. Christensen designs and implements all aspects for sports performance programs for the men's lacrosse and swimming & diving teams. Christensen joined the Duke athletic department in January 2009 as the Assistant Director for Sports Performance for Olympic Sports. Before Duke, he served as the associate head strength and conditioning coach at Missouri State University, focusing on Olympic Sports. His earlier experiences include roles at the University of Arkansas and as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Wyoming. Originally from Iowa, Christensen earned his Bachelor of Arts from Chadron State College in 2003 and his Master of Science from the University of Wyoming in 2006. He holds certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the United States Weightlifting Organization.

Erin Stephenson joined the Duke athletics staff in October of 2007 and serves as an Administrative Assistant for the Blue Devil lacrosse and soccer programs. A native of Maine, N.Y., Stephenson played both field hockey and lacrosse at Hartwick College before graduating in 2004 with a bachelor of arts degree in history. She went on to earn a master's degree in the same discipline from UNC Greensboro in 2006.

Joe Ferraro has been a member of the Duke Athletic Department since July 1995 and currently serves as an Associate Director of Athletic Medicine. Originally from Cockeysville, Md., Ferraro is responsible for overseeing the health care of the Duke men's lacrosse program. His tenure with Duke began in the fall of 1995, following his role as the Acting Head Athletic Trainer at Guilford College earlier that year. Ferraro holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Justice & Policy Studies from Guilford College, obtained in 1993. He furthered his education by earning a Master of Science degree in Injury Prevention & Management from Springfield College in 1999. He is married to Judy Jo Gibbs of Onnadaga, Mich., and together they have three children: J.D., Mary and Lizzie.

Kerrin Meseck joined the Duke Athletics staff in July of 2021 and serves as the Assistant Director of Sports Nutrition. In her role, she primarily works with...

Kevin Unterstein joined the Duke men's lacrosse staff as an assistant coach in July 2024. He works closely with the Blue Devils defensive unit and faceoff sp...

One of the best players in Duke men’s lacrosse history, Matt Danowski enters his 12th season with the program. In his 11 seasons with the attackmen, Danowski has mentored some of Duke’s top scorers, including Jordan Wolf, Justin Guterding, Dyson Williams and Brennan O’Neill. In each of his years, the Blue Devils have featured one of the nation’s top offenses and some of the most prominent attackmen in the game with O’Neill quickly joining the ranks as the 2023 Tewaaraton Award winner. Duke averaged 15.41 goals per game to rank third in the ACC and fifth nationally in scoring offense in 2023. In the past 10 complete seasons, Duke has ranked in the top five in scoring offense in seven of them. In his 10th and 11th seasons, Danowski continued to manage the growth of O’Neill as the talented attackman joined the elite 200-point scorer ranks and is on pace to become the fourth Blue Devil to reach 300 career points. O’Neill garnered his third All-ACC honor was named the Raymand J. Enners Award winner as the nation’s top player along with the Tewaaraton Award. Additionally, Williams turned in his best season as a Blue Devil in 2023, leading Duke with 60 goals - one of six different Blue Devils to score 60 in a season. In 2022, Nakeie Montgomery also became the first midfielder since Myles Jones to be named to the All-America first team in consecutive seasons. Montgomery finished his career ranked 30th at Duke in career pionts. Danowski melded a collection of extremely talented player

One of the great minds in collegiate lacrosse, Ron Caputo is in his 17th season as an assistant coach at Duke. Caputo currently works closely with the Duke defense and faceoff specialists after spending 10 seasons as the leader of the midfielders and faceoff specialists. In his 16 seasons with the Blue Devils, Duke has posted a 223-71 record, captured five ACC titles, advanced to the NCAA Semifinals 11 times and ultimately won the 2010, 2013 and 2014 national championships. Under Caputo Duke's offense and defense has flourished. Since Caputo took over the reins of the Duke defense in 2018, the Blue Devils have ranked in the top three in scoring defense in the high-powered ACC five times. Five Blue Devil defensemen have earned first team All-Americans since 2018 and JT Giles-Harris captured the USILA Defenseman of the Year award in 2021. Working with the midfield and offensive unites from 2008-17, the Blue Devils turned in some of the best midfield performances in NCAA lacrosse history. Duke had eight first team All-American midfielders in that span and 22 overall All-America honors. The Blue Devils were among the top 10 nationally in scoring for five straight seasons (2013-17), while seven of the midfielders he mentored finished his career with at least 100 career points. Working closely with the faceoff specialists, Duke has had great success at the X under Caputo's watch with All-Americans CJ Costabile and Brendan Fowler, Kyle Rowe and currently Jake Naso. In 2012, Caputo h