As a driving rain began to drench the players in the waning moments of Duke's 3-1 loss to Maryland Oct. 7, the Blue Devils saw their hope of beating the Terrapins for a second straight year drown on the soggy turf of Koskinen Stadium.
No. 15 Duke (8-2-1, 2-1-1 in the ACC) was in command during the first half, as the Blue Devils' offense fired eight shots at Terps' goalkeeper Chris Seitz, and a quick Duke defense stifled the Maryland attack, holding No. 12 Maryland to just one shot.
"We didn't do anything in the first half, they were all over us," Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski said. "It was a little bit like men against boys, and I thought they played terrific."
The Blue Devils failed to capitalize on their many chances, however, and the score remained knotted at zero at the half.
"You can't keep a team like Maryland in check forever," Duke coach John Rennie said. "They're going to have their chances."
The Terps (9-3, 3-1) broke through the Duke defense almost immediately in the second half when midfielder Stephen King found himself deep inside the Blue Devil box and hammered a loose ball inside the near post in the 47th minute for the game's first goal.
The Duke defense, which had been near perfect in the first half, surrendered 11 shots in the period, seven of which were on goal.
"We were playing a lot of long balls over the top, and there was a lot of running going on," midfielder Michael Videira said. "I guess in the end we just tired out a little."
Seitz turned away Blake Camp's penalty kick in the 59th minute, but the Blue Devils struck back moments later. Camp set up Tomek Charowski with a pass across the middle of the box, and the midfielder pounded the ball home for his first goal of the season to tie the game 1-1.
However, Terps' forward Jason Garey put Maryland back on top for good in the 73rd minute when he beat Duke goalkeeper Justin Papadakis to his left side. The Terps would add one more in the 82nd when Aki Kadotani connected from 20 yards out.
"We're a team that hates losing more than we like winning," said midfielder Chris Loftus after the loss.
The Blue Devils regrouped against Western Illinois Tuesday night, defeating the Leathernecks (3-8), 2-0.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.