Playing in front of a record home crowd at Ludwig Field Friday night, Maryland handed Duke its first loss in eight games, 4-2. Solid defense from the No. 3 Terrapins (13-1-1, 4-1-0 in the ACC) made it difficult for the No. 22 Blue Devils (7-5-1, 3-2-1) to find any rhythm on the offensive end. Duke forward Andrew Wenger, the nation’s leader in points, was held scoreless by the Maryland back line.
At the start of the match, the Blue Devils came out aggressively and maintained possession in front of 7,957 Maryland fans. Duke earned the first goal of the game on a counterattack after goalkeeper James Belshaw stopped an open shot from Maryland striker Patrick Mullins. Senior Chris Tweed-Kent recovered the ball at midfield before finding freshman Sean Davis, who surprised Maryland keeper Will Swaim with a low shot to the corner for his first goal of the season, and Tweed-Kent’s eighth assist.
The Blue Devils’ 1-0 lead did not last long, as the Terrapins responded with a goal of their own two minutes later. A nice touch from striker Casey Townsend created a one-on-one opportunity for sophomore Sunny Jane, who slid the ball past Belshaw for the equalizer.
The rest of the half favored the Terrapins as Duke struggled to string together passes.
“We went up 1-0 in the first half and were playing okay,” Duke head coach John Kerr said, “but then we allowed them back into the game. The last part of the first half, I felt we just gave possession up too easily.”
The Terrapins continued to control the tempo in the second half. Ten minutes in, a dangerous cross found Townsend open in the box. Junior Sebastien Ibeagha went in for the tackle and was called for a controversial penalty. John Stertzer put away the penalty kick to give Maryland a 2-1 lead.
Shortly after his penalty kick, Stertzer notched a second goal with a header past the outstretched hand of Belshaw.
“They’re a good team,” Kerr said. “They know what they’re doing and they’re very aggressive. We allowed them to make a mark on us in the second half.”
With 22 minutes left in the game, the Blue Devils were able to press forward after Jane was sent off with a red card. Kerr sent an extra player forward to help jump-start the offense, but the team still struggled to find the back of the net. With only three defenders, Mullins was able to score a surprise goal in the 85th minute, sealing Maryland’s victory. Duke freshman Andrew Morales scored the first goal of his career as the clock ran down, but it was too little, too late.
Despite the lopsided final score, the Blue Devils had 18 shots to their opponents’ 12, and created seven corner kicks in the second half alone. While proud of his team’s recent success, Kerr feels that Duke could have done better.
“We didn’t play our best tonight,” Kerr said. “We’ve had a good run and done well, but we were really looking forward to this match. We didn’t seize the opportunity as much as we wanted to.”
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