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Duke men’s lacrosse, currently ranked No. 2 in the nation only behind Notre Dame, travels to Long Island on May 7 to play in the seventh annual Battle at Bethpage game.
In what is the final contest of its regular season, Duke (12-2) takes on Merrimack College at Bethpage High School at 1 p.m. Merrimack, based in North Andover, Massachusetts, is 7-6, playing in just its third complete season as an NCAA Division I program.
All of the money raised from ticket sales and a silent auction at the event will go to the Army Ranger Lead the Way Fund in honor of former Duke Blue Devil Jimmy Regan, a Manhasset native who helped lead Duke to national titles in 2001 and 2002.
The Chaminade High School graduate became a U.S. Army Ranger and sergeant after college and was killed in action in northern Iraq in 2007. He was 26 years old.
Click here to purchase general admission tickets.
Twelve Long Islanders — including nine on Duke — are among the players suiting up for the Battle at Bethpage.
Duke is led by Bay Shore native junior attackman Brennan O’Neill, who ranks fourth in the nation with 71 points, and his fellow St. Anthony’s graduate Jake Nasso, a junior face-off specialist from Holtsville who ranks fifth in the country in face-off winning percentage (63 percent).
Merrimack counters with Syosset’s Jack Rooney, a senior and a St. Dominic’s High School graduate who leads the Warriors with 48 points. Sophomore Brian Russell, a Kellenberg High School graduate from Malverne, leads the team in scoring with 35 goals.
The silent auction will feature such items as a Duke lacrosse helmet signed by the entire Blue Devil lacrosse team and basketballs autographed by Duke men’s basketball head coach Jon Scheyer and retired Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The auction opens to fans at noon, and closes at the end of halftime. Winners need to be in attendance to pick up the item before the conclusion of the game.
The event is hosted by the Bethpage Educational Foundation. Tickets are $14.64 and must be purchased online in advance through Eventbrite.
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