DUKE TAKES NCAA TITLE

CJ Costabile lived the dream. As a youth, Costabile imagined scoring the game-winning goal. As a sophomore long-stick midfielder for Duke, Costabile did just that, scoring just five seconds into overtime to lift the No. 5 seed Blue Devils to a 6-5 victory decision over unseeded Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament final at M&T Bank Stadium on Monday. On the opening faceoff of overtime, Costabile popped the ball away from Fighting Irish senior Trever Sipperly and collected it. He sprinted into the offensive zone and fired a shot from about 10 yards over goalkeeper Scott Rodgers' right shoulder to set off a wild celebration just outside the Notre Dame cage. It was the fastest goal to start an overtime period in NCAA history, and it concluded the lowest-scoring game in NCAA history. "Everyone kind of thinks about that," Costabile, who won six of 10 faceoffs, scooped three ground balls, and caused two turnovers, said of his game-winning goal. "You think, 'Oh, maybe I can do something like that.' For it to actually come true, it's fairy tale stuff. You don't think it's going to happen, but I guess it kind of happened." Duke coach John Danowski said players integral to the team's faceoffs and transition have always had the green light to shoot, and Costabile recognized that no Fighting Irish defenders were sliding to him as he carried the ball into the box. "They were really tight on the attackmen," he said. "So I took my lane. … I kind of just let it rip and saw the back of the net move and saw Max [Quinzani], [Zach] Howell and Ned [Crotty] jump around me." (Baltimore Sun)