The No. 25 Blue Devils knew they would learn something about themselves by playing No. 4 Maryland in College Park, Md. before a crowd of more than 6,000 spectators.
But they might not have expected to gain confidence from a 1-0 loss in which their best player was ejected in the first half.
Maryland's Omar Gonzalez scored the game-winner in the fifth minute, and Duke senior forward Mike Grella took a red card in the 30th as Duke lost to its ACC rival Friday night. The Blue Devils (4-3, 1-1 in the ACC) played undermanned for 60 scoreless minutes, though, proving they can stick with any team in the country-with or without a full lineup.
"This was a landmark of our season, because we showed we can stay strong and stay together playing down a man," senior defender Darrius Barnes said. "We can definitely get some confidence out of this. We know we can play with one of the top three teams in the nation, even after going down a goal and losing a man. I feel like this is definitely a stepping stone for our young team."
After senior goalkeeper Brendan Fitzgerald blocked a shot over the end line early in the match, a Maryland corner kick found the head of Gonzalez and then the corner of the net for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.
The scoring stopped there. The defense, aided by Fitzgerald's eight saves, effectively shut down the Terrapins (4-1, 2-0) for the rest of the match. But defense alone was not enough to overcome the one-goal deficit, because while Duke created a number of scoring opportunities, it never got the ball into the net.
"After they scored the first goal, we didn't really change how we played," Barnes said. "We just stayed aggressive, and we actually started to get more attacks on goal. But after the red card we played down a man, so we were playing a 4-4-1 at that point. It was hard only having one frontrunner up top to get the ball to, so we just had to hold tight defensively and look for our chances on the counters, look for our chances on our set pieces."
The box score shows a 1-0 loss, but the final doesn't take into account the added difficulty, the extra effort, and the mental strain created by playing short-sided for two-thirds of the game. What Duke takes out of this game is not a win, but a new image of itself and a huge boost of confidence from being able to keep up with a top-5 team.
The squad proved itself Friday not only to the players, but to everyone watching at Ludwig Field.
"Coming into the season, people outside the program and even inside the program had doubts about it, so you know what our confidence level was taking on a top ACC foe," Barnes said. "But I think this game proved that we can play with anybody, no matter what's coming our way."
The Blue Devils will have to live up to that mentality in the coming weeks as their challenging conference schedule continues. Grella's red card will carry over one game to Duke's next match against Clemson Friday.
But the experience and confidence the Blue Devils gained against Maryland will stay with them as they face the stiff competition of the ACC for the rest of the season.
"There's really no time to take any breaks or look over anybody in the ACC," Barnes said. "We just need to take it a game at a time, and try to get better each time out."
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