Hot on the heels of a stunning upset of then-No. 2 Clemson, the men's soccer team came back to earth Sunday, losing 3-0 to the sixth-ranked Maryland Terrapins.
Playing at Ludwig Field in College Park, Md., Duke suffered its first ACC setback of the year, moving them to 1-1 in conference play and 4-2-1 overall.
The Blue Devils kept it close in the first half, thanks in large part to solid defensive play by Matt Ahumada. In the 20th minute, however, Duke relinquished the first goal of the game to Maryland's Sumed Ibrahim.
On a free kick from 30 yards out, Ibrahim charged through the box and headed the ball past goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge for the Terrapins' first marker. Duke, ranked 20th in the nation, failed to mount any serious offensive threats, and the game stood at 1-0 when the halftime whistle blew.
"The first half was a real defensive struggle," said head coach John Rennie. "We played well considering our defense is starting to look like a MASH unit."
Unfortunately for the Devils, the unit was about to come under heavy fire. The absence of key defender Matt White, who sustained a leg injury earlier in the year, began to take its toll. Maryland, despite attempting only three shots before halftime, took advantage of Duke's fatigue in the second half to control possession and keep constant pressure on the undermanned Blue Devil defense.
Their efforts paid off in the 58th minute when an Erwin Diaz header found the back of the net to increase the Terps' lead to 2-0. Chris Lancos made it a header hat trick for Maryland in 75th minute when he used his own cranium to direct home a Clarence Goodson cross, capping off the scoring and securing a Terrapin victory.
Duke produced only one legitimate scoring chance--on a driving shot by Ryan Kerlew--but a diving save in the 64th minute by Terrapin keeper Noah Palmer kept the Blue Devils off the board.
After the game, Rennie gave all the credit to Maryland.
"The ACC is the best conference in the country, and Maryland is the best team we've played yet. They attack relentlessly, and it wore us down in the second half," he said. "A lot of times the preseason rankings don't mean too much, but Maryland is a quality team. They just didn't let us play well."
Duke resumes action this Saturday when it hosts the 23rd-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels at 7 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.