The men's lacrosse team might have topped its opponents in nearly every statistical category during a spring break road trip, but the Blue Devils came up short in the most important tally: the final score.
No. 6 Duke (3-2) suffered its first two losses of the season, falling to unranked Brown 10-9 Saturday a week after enduring a one-goal defeat at the hands of then-No. 6 Loyola.
In Providence, the Blue Devils never led after the first quarter despite outshooting the Bears and winning more ground balls and faceoffs. Duke trailed 9-8 with less than three minutes remaining in the game when senior defender Stephen Card received a one-minute slashing penalty, and Brown capitalized.
Sophomore Jeremy Metz scored the Bears' first extra-man goal of the match with 1:33 to go for a two-point advantage. Chris Hartofilis pulled the Blue Devils within one with 11 seconds to play, but it was too late for Duke to avoid the upset in cold and snowy Brown Stadium.
Duke trailed 6-3 before scoring three unanswered goals to tie the score more than six minutes into the third quarter. Jared Frood and T.J. Durnan notched the last two scores in extra-man situations, the Blue Devils' only such goals in eight opportunities.
With the match tied 7-7 late in the fourth quarter, Brown freshman Michael Hughes scored his third goal of the afternoon to give the Bears a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Durnan led Duke with three goals, while Frood added three assists. The Blue Devils outshot Brown 36-29 but were stifled by goalie Beret Dickson's 15 saves.
The March 11 matchup of two of the nation's top six teams saw one streak end and another continue. Loyola picked up its NCAA Division I-record 26th straight regular season victory by edging Duke 11-10 and snapping the Blue Devils' 27-game regular-season win streak against non-conference opponents.
On a rainy afternoon at Baltimore's Curley Field, Duke jumped to a 4-1 advantage in the first 16 minutes of play. But the Greyhounds (3-0) responded with a six unanswered goals to take the lead for good.
The Blue Devils had a chance to send the game to overtime after Hartofilis scored his career-high third goal of the afternoon to cut the deficit to one with 1:48 to play. Duke regained possession with under a minute remaining, but lost the ball-and a shot at the tie-on the endline with 20 seconds to go.
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