HALFTIME: Duke 5, Notre Dame 1

Notre Dame's defense came out with the strongest showing Duke has seen all postseason. The Blue Devils came out even stronger.

The Duke offense entered Sunday's contest averaging 18 goals per game in the postseason but has only managed five goals so far led by Baltimore natives Christian Walsh and Deemer Class. Meanwhile, the Blue Devil defense has held the Fighting Irish to just four shots on goal through the two quarters, giving Duke a firm 5-1 lead headed into the break.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• The Blue Devils won the opening draw but coughed up a turnover less than a minute in and lost it again 90 seconds later—reminiscent of the trend that plagued Maryland in its semifinal matchup against Notre Dame where the Terrapins lost despite winning 71.4 percent of face offs. The Fighting Irish, however, have been even sloppier with the ball, registering 11 turnovers to Duke's 6.
• Baltimore native Christian Walsh put the Blue Devils on the board first with a scrappy scoring play, fielding a ground ball and scoring on an off-balance bounce shot at the 8:13 mark in the first quarter.
• Notre Dame junior Conor Kelly slowed down the potent Blue Devil offense to start the day, making four saves on six Duke shot attempts in the first quarter, but managed just two more saves in the second.
• Getting the nod to start in the cage, Blue Devil Luke Aaron held the Irish scoreless in the first quarter with two saves, snapping Notre Dame's streak of 23 straight quarters with a goal stretching back to its April 25 ACC semifinal game against Maryland.
• The Blue Devils just barely extended their streak of 49 straight multi-goal quarters as Class, another Baltimore native, snagged a goal with eight seconds to go in the first quarter. Class racked up two goals on three shots before the break.
• After registering five goals and two assists in the semifinal match against Maryland, Notre Dame points leader Matt Kavanagh has been relatively silent against Duke's 6-foot-4 defender Henry Lobb. Still, the sophomore has the lone goal for the Fighting Irish, scoring on his own out of a timeout midway through the second quarter.
• Junior midfielder Will Haus had his first goal disallowed on an offsides call but came back to score Duke's fifth goal late in the second quarter, extending the Blue Devil lead to four heading into the locker room.
• Senior Jordan Wolf set a new Duke single-season record for points in a season with an assist on Myles Jones' goal midway through the second quarter.