COLLEGE PARK, Md. - At a makeshift press conference in a football weight room, men's lacrosse coach Mike Pressler sat steaming mad and soaking wet. After watching his team lose a 7-6 decision to Maryland in the first round of the ACC tournament, Pressler spared few words in his assessment of the Blue Devils' performance.
"That was as disappointing a performance on our part as I've seen in a long time," Pressler said. "You can't win a game scoring six goals."
Although the Blue Devils struck first on a goal by T.J. Durnan a minute and a half into the game, they fell behind 3-1 by the end of the first quarter. With 13 seconds left in the first half, Duke managed to tie the score 3-3 on a searing unassisted shot by Durnan.
After the Terps scored first in the third quarter, however, Duke was unable to catch up.
"We couldn't generate a thing on offense," Pressler said. "We thought we could get 10, 12, 14 goals, something like that. They were good and we were subpar."
The Blue Devils managed to work their way to a one-goal deficit, trailing 7-6 with 1:13 left in the game. But an illegal hold penalty put Duke a man down for 30 seconds, and Maryland just played keep away as the clock wound down.
It was the second-lowest scoring game in ACC tournament history, and followed the highest scoring ACC game-as Virginia topped UNC 17-16 in double overtime.
The Blue Devils had also struggled offensively in the games leading up to the tournament. In their last loss against Virginia, the Blue Devils could only manage seven goals.
Pressler also faulted Duke for winning a dismal 29 percent of faceoffs, when the team had been averaging 65 percent on the season.
"Our face-offs were non-existent," he said. "Maybe it was the fact that our guys thought it would be easy. Maryland played harder than our guys today-our guys didn't play hard enough. That disappoints me."
With a No. 9 ranking and a 1-2 conference record, the Terrapins were definitely on the bubble for the 12-team NCAA tournament unless they won against Duke.
"We think this game meant more to our postseason opportunities than it did to them," said Maryland coach Dick Edell. "It's huge for us."
In addition to face-offs, the Blue Devils had major trouble picking up ground balls, getting only 31 to the Terps' 51.
And while the steady downpour throughout the game certainly affected the flow of the game, the Blue Devils discounted the weather as the reason for their downfall.
"You can't make an excuse for the weather," said midfielder Nick Hartofilis. "We've won games in this weather before."
Pressler said the weather just added to the intensity and physicality of the game.
"This game tonight, this was not X's and O's," he said. "It was a football game. In these conditions it's a slugfest."
Looking to the future, including the NCAA Tournament and a Friday match at Penn State, the Blue Devils are hoping for an offensive change of pace.
"We haven't played well offensively in the last two weeks," Pressler said. "When we get down like this, turn the ball over and don't win faceoffs, it's tough to score."
Note: Virginia won the ACC title with an 11-7 win over Maryland yesterday afternoon.
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