No. 7 Maryland caps wild week with comeback victory over No. 2 Duke in NCAA men's lacrosse quarterfinals
Maryland celebrates their come from behind win during the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse quarterfinals between Duke and Maryland on Saturday May 18, 2024 at Hofstra. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Trailing second-seeded Duke by three goals in the opening minutes of Saturday’s NCAA men’s lacrosse quarterfinal and then falling behind by four before halftime might have rattled most teams.
Not Maryland. Not after this season. Not after this week’s journey.
Their trip up to Long Island for this postseason game at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium nearly was imperiled when a team bus broke down Thursday on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Stranded on the side of the road with rush hour traffic building around them, the Terrapins had to rely on a series of scrambled plans and alternate avenues just to get here.
Eventually they would split into a series of Uber rides to complete their travels.
“The guys handled it great,” coach John Tillman said. “They didn’t bat an eye. The guys just didn’t flinch . . . We joke that those are the stories guys will tell 20 years from now, literally being stuck just over the George Washington Bridge, trying to figure out what to do.”
The story will have a sweet ending when it is retold, too. Seventh-seeded Maryland managed to come back from all that adversity, on and off the field, to beat Duke, 14-11, in front of 9,086 fans. The Terrapins (10-5) delivered the first upset of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Final Four next weekend in Philadelphia.
“These are life skills,” Tillman said. “Things don’t always go the way you want.”
They certainly weren’t for most of the game. But just as they did outside the busted bus a few days earlier, Maryland kept its composure and its focus.
Braden Erksa picked up a loose ball in front of the cage and scored to cap a 4-0 run, giving the Terrapins their first lead of the game, 10-9, with 10:16 remaining in the fourth quarter. The teams traded goals before Duke’s Brennan O’Neill (Bay Shore/St. Anthony’s) tied the score at 11 with 6:56 remaining. But Maryland controlled the ball for most of that remaining time and scored three straight goals — two by Daniel Maltz — to close out the win.
As much as this was a Maryland comeback, it was a collapse by Duke (13-6). After a dominant start, it managed only nine shots, committed seven turnovers, lost 11 of 14 faceoffs in the second half and was outscored 9-3 during that time.
“They outplayed us [on faceoffs], they outplayed us in goal, they outplayed us on the ground,” Duke coach John Danowski said. “They were the better team [Saturday] for sure.”
As much as the game featured two traditional lacrosse powers, it felt as if it was decided by very modern technology. Several plays became key moments after they were either reviewed under instant replay or not.
The goal that sparked Maryland’s comeback, a shot by Jack Brennan that made it 9-7 with 1:14 left in the third quarter, appeared to have come after the shot clock expired. Duke could have challenged it but Danowski, who did not have the advantage of seeing a replay himself, decided to let it stand rather than risk losing a timeout.
Maryland, meanwhile, scored the goal that made it 13-11 with 3:03 left. Officials initially had called it a no-goal, then stopped the game to see if Maltz’s shot hit the top of the net. It had.
Danowski’s bigger gripe was that after the goal initially was waved off, Duke was trying to clear the ball while Maryland’s bench and coach were on the field. Officials eventually stopped play to check the replay (all calls inside the final four minutes are initiated by the referees and not a team challenge).
“Not a great look for our sport,” Danowski said.
“I hate replay,” he said. “I don’t like it in any sport. We’re human beings, we’re playing a game; to me, there is no place for technology in the sport. But I get it. We have to keep up with the times.”
Last season Duke beat Penn State in the semifinals on an overtime goal that would have been disallowed because of a crease violation had replay been in use then.
As for his team, one loaded with 18 seniors and graduate students whose careers ended, Danowski said the postgame locker room was “crushed.”
Maryland, meanwhile, rides on. In buses, in Ubers, in comeback wins. Whatever it takes.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
