Scoreless drought dooms Duke lacrosse in first loss of the season

Senior attack Jordan Wolf notched two more goals, but a 26-minute scoreless drought was Duke’s downfall in a loss to Maryland.
Senior attack Jordan Wolf notched two more goals, but a 26-minute scoreless drought was Duke’s downfall in a loss to Maryland.

After a perfect February, Duke started March off on the wrong foot.

In front of a season-high crowd of more than 5,000 fans, the No. 1 Blue Devils suffered their first setback of the season Saturday when they fell 10-6 to No. 2 Maryland at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md. After trading goals with the Blue Devils for much of the first half, the Terrapins changed the narrative by scoring seven unanswered goals and holding Duke without a goal for a streak of 26:26.

“They played a great 60 minutes. I thought their goalie was terrific," Duke head coach John Danowski said. "Defensively, I thought they had a really good gameplan and understood how they play. I’m very proud of our guys’ first-half effort. Certainly we were disappointed in our second-half effort, but the calendar says it’s March 1 and the plan is we’re going to learn from this film and move forward.”

Maryland (4-0, 2-0 in the ACC) leaned on its vaunted defense to seize control of Saturday’s matchup. Goaltender Niko Amato, who had allowed just 14 goals in Maryland’s previous three games, made 17 saves, including six in the second quarter alone. Maryland’s defense, anchored by Jesse Bernhardt, forced 17 Duke turnovers.

I thought he did terrific,” Danowski said of Amato’s performance. “Their defense does a really good job in front of him and he can see shots coming at him. It’s also the way they’re coached; they do a great job defensively.”

For the Blue Devils, goaltender Luke Aaron put on a one-man defensive show, making a career-high 15 saves. The matchup marked his third straight outing in which he registered double-digit saves.

“It was a good game,” Aaron said. “The defense was letting me see the shots and the credit goes to them. It started with [Maryland’s] goalie play to [Maryland’s] defense and their offense played really well.”

Senior attack Jordan Wolff, the reigning ACC Player of the Week, extended his scoring streak to 46 games with two goals Saturday. Senior attack Josh Dionne added another two, and sophomores Case Matheis and Myles Jones each added one. Maryland was led by midfielder Mike Chanenchuk’s five goals.

"Mike [Chanenchuk] has been there for a while and he shoots the ball really well, so it’s tough," Aaron said. "They executed their game plan.”

Duke (4-1, 0-1) began to falter in the third quarter and couldn’t rally a comeback in the fourth. The Blue Devils still managed to trail by just a goal, but three Terrapin goals in the final three minutes of the third period put Maryland in the driver’s seat with a 9-5 advantage. Despite the efforts of ACC ground ball leader Brendan Fowler, the Blue Devils lost the ground ball battle 8-5 in the third and were failed to find the back of the net after posting only five shots on goal to Maryland’s 14 in the period.

“They scored once off a pick. They scored once off a faceoff. They scored in a bunch of different little ways and they played great,” Danowski said of Maryland’s second-half performance. “During the coaches' committee, I voted them number one last week and I think they’re a dynamite team. They’re just kind of relaxed, playing at home in front of a big crowd, I thought they were very calm and confident defensively.”

Both perennial lacrosse powerhouses, Duke and Maryland have a competitive history. Duke has beaten Maryland just twice in eight matchups since the 2011 season, and the Terrapins knocked the Blue Devils out of the NCAA semifinals in 2012. Saturday's contest marked the last regular-season ACC matchup between the two teams before Maryland departs for the Big Ten next year.

Whether or not the Blue Devils and Terrapins meet again in the postseason, Duke is taking Saturday's loss as a learning experience before they return to the state of Maryland next weekend for a matchup against No. 8 Loyola.

Hard work,” Wolf said on how Duke will respond to the loss. “I’m excited for practice Monday and get back to it. We’re going to watch this film and get better from it.”

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