After outplaying Maryland for much of the first half, Duke fell victim not to the No. 8 Terrapins, but the referee’s whistle.
In the game’s 34th minute, Andrew Wenger appeared to make a clean tackle on Maryland’s Jason Herrick, but was whistled for a foul in the box. It was a questionable call, and one that Matt Kassel took advantage of, slotting home the penalty kick and giving Maryland a lead it would never relinquish. The Terrapins wound up winning 2-0 Friday night.
“It’s hard because for the first thirty minutes we were the better team,” head coach John Kerr said. “Then they get an unjust call and score the goal off that, which gave them a lot of confidence and put them back into the game.”
Despite going on the road and facing a record crowd of over 7,000 hostile Terrapin supporters, No. 9 Duke (4-2-3, 1-2-1) had numerous scoring chances in the first half, yet failed to register a single shot on goal.
In the tenth minute, senior Cole Grossman’s cross found Ryan Finley wide open on the left, but the sophomore—who is tied for the nation’s lead in goals—couldn’t find the target from six yards out, sending the ball wide of the goal. Grossman continued to find holes early on in the Maryland defense. His through-ball down the left side found Finley behind the backline alone with the Terrapins’ keeper, Zac MacMath, but again Finley pushed the ball wide. The missed opportunities for an early lead would come back to haunt the Blue Devils.
Maryland (5-2-1, 2-1-1) gained possession in the 34th minute and played the ball to senior forward Herrick at the top of the Duke penalty box. Herrick attacked the right side and was met by defender Andrew Wenger. Even though Wenger appeared to make contact with the ball, Herrick went down, and the referee awarded the Terrapins a penalty kick. In what would be the game’s momentum-changing moment, Kassel scored, and Maryland led 1-0.
The Terrapins continued to push forward in the final moments of the first half and were granted a free kick deep in Duke territory in the 41st minute. Herrick’s shot was blocked by a Duke defender, but freshman Patrick Mullins fired the rebound from seven yards out past a diving James Belshaw to give Maryland a two-goal lead going into halftime.
The second half was much tougher for the Blue Devils as the Terrapins’ lead gave new life to the sellout crowd. Duke was forced to send extra players forward, making the team vulnerable to a Maryland counterattack.
The Terrapins almost scored several times on quick counters during the second half. In the 77th minute, Mullins launched a rocket from the top of the box that struck the right post. The rebound bounced to an open Matt Oduaran on the left post but he failed to put it in the back of the net. Belshaw made several crucial stops and did not allow a goal in the second half, finishing with seven saves.
“I thought we hung in there, and when you’re chasing the game you expose yourself sometimes,” Kerr said. “They had a couple of opportunities on the counter-attack but that’s going to happen when you’re chasing the game. They are a very good team when playing with a lead.”
Kerr pushed Wenger up to center midfield midway through the second half to try and create more chances for Finley and the rest of the Duke offense.
“Wenger has a lot of range and he’s very good going forward,” Kerr said. “We made a few adjustments because we were down two-nothing, and he created some havoc for us around the box. We just couldn’t finish our chances.”
Duke had 10 shots in the game, with zero on goal, while Maryland had 19 total shots, with nine on goal. And at the end of the day, the Blue Devils’ inability to finish ultimately cost them the game.
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