Duke upsets Maryland to advance to NCAA lacrosse championship game

Championship game scheduled for Monday afternoon in Foxborough.

The NCAA lacrosse title game is set as the No. 3 Yale Bulldogs and the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils will meet on Memorial Day.

In the first semifinal, Yale got out to a 7-0 lead and cruised to an easy victory thanks to six goals from Matt Gaudet and nine points (five goals, four assists) from Tewaaraton Award finalist Ben Reeves. This is the first appearance in the NCAA championship game in Yale lacrosse’s history.

The second semifinal followed a similar script as the first as the Duke Blue Devils got out to a 6-0 lead before Maryland found the back of the net. Although Maryland was able to pull within one in the third quarter, Duke went on a 3-0 run to finish the game and knock out the defending champs.

FINAL: Duke 13, Maryland 8

Duke 11, Maryland 7 (10:06 Q4)

Robertson strikes again, making Duke freshman responsible for seven of the 11 Blue Devil goals.

Duke 10, Maryland 7 (End Q3)

Duke 9, Maryland 7 (4:55 Q3)

The Blue Devils answer Maryland’s run with a goal from Joe Robertson.

Duke 8, Maryland 7 (8:05 Q3)

The Terps come out hot in the second half to close the deficit to one partway through the period. All-American Connor Kelly and freshman Bubba Fairman strike for Maryland.

HALFTIME: Duke 8, Maryland 5

The Blue Devils started strong with a 6-0 run, but Maryland answered with some quick goal scoring spurts. Nakeie Montgomery led Duke with three goals as Maryland’s Logan Wisnauskas had two to lead the Terps.

Maryland’s Dan Morris in cage kept things from being worse for the Terps with nine saves in the first half.

Duke 8, Maryland 5 (2:01 Q2)

Another quick two goal spurt from the Terps as they scored a pair in 51 seconds. Logan Wisnauskas and Tim Rotanz get on the board to keep the pressure on the Blue Devils.

Check out this dish by Connor Kelly on the Wisnauskas goal:

Duke 8, Maryland 3 (4:21 Q2)

There’s a reason that Duke’s Justin Guterding is the new NCAA D-I career goals leader (208 and counting). His first of the day give the Blue Devils a five-goal cushion late in the first half.

Duke 6, Maryland 2 (10:53 Q2)

After going 18:24 with no goals, the Terps got back-to-back goals in 43 seconds thanks to scores from Jake Bernhardt and Anthony DeMaio to get on the board after Duke opened the game on a 6-0 run.

Duke 4, Maryland 0 (End Q1)

Blue Devils held the Terps scoreless for the first 15 minutes as goalie Danny Fowler had two saves and the Duke defense allowed just five shots. Duke had four different goal scorers in the first quarter.

Duke 1, Maryland 0 (13:35, Q1)

Nakeie Montgomery, a freshman midfielder for the Blue Devils, puts Duke up early on the reigning national champ. Both goalies have a save early.

-Second Semifinal-

FINAL: Yale 20, Albany 11

This one was pretty much decided after one quarter, but the Bulldogs kept the pressure on on both ends of the field and earned their first appearance in the NCAA Finals in program history.

Matt Gaudet finished with six goals and Ben Reeves had five goals and four assists in the Yale win.

The Bulldogs will face the winner of the second semifinal (No. 1 Maryland or No. 4 Duke) on Monday in the finals.

Yale 17, Albany 7 (End Q3)

Yale 16, Albany 7 (6:33 Q3)

Reeves nets his fourth of the day with a shot painted to the lower left hand corner from the right wing. The Danes can’t stop anything the Bulldogs throw at them.

Yale 12, Albany 7 (12:31 Q3)

Albany’s Connor Fields took advantage of a big, non-releasable penalty on Yale, scoring two goals during the minute advantage to start the second half off strong and pull back within five of the Bulldogs.

HALFTIME: Yale 12, Albany 5

Yale shut off the Danes defensively as the offense continued to cruise. Gaudet had five first half goals on six shots as fellow attackmen Jackson Morrill (three goals) and Reeves (two goals) stuffed the stats sheet.

Bulldog goalie Jack Starr had six saves, while Yale scored on 12 of 19 shots.

Yale 9, Albany 5 (8:41 Q2)

The Danes made a bit of a run thanks to a six-of-seven streak at the face off X by Albany’s TD Ierlan and superstar Connor Fields breaking into the score sheet.

Yale 7, Albany 1 (End Q1)

It took Albany 12:20 in the first quarter to find pay dirt.

Yale 7, Albany 0 (4:34, Q1)

The Bulldogs are on a run of epic proportion. Matt Gaudet and Ben Reeves had two goals apiece in the seven goal spurt to start the first semifinal.

Yale 1, Albany 0 (13:17, Q1)

John Daniggelis puts the Elis on the board first, powering one low past Albany’s keeper.

Pregame

Top seed Maryland tries to move one step closer to a second consecutive NCAA lacrosse championship when they host Duke in the second of two semifinals on Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The is the fifth straight trip to the Final Four for Maryland lacrosse, including a berth in the championship game in each of the last three seasons. Standing in the Terps’ way on Saturday is No. 4 Duke (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Maryland beat Robert Morris, 14-11, in the first round and beat Cornell, 13-8, in Round 2. Duke’s offense has been more prolific so far, outlasting Villanova, 17-11, in their tournament opener followed by a 14-9 win over Johns Hopkins to reach the semifinals.

The first game on Saturday features No. 2 Albany, whose 33 goals is two games is tops in the tournament in wins over Richmond and Denver. Albany will face No. 3 Yale (12 p.m. ET, ESPN2), who beat UMass and Loyola in the first two rounds.

The winners face off in the championship game on Monday afternoon, also on ESPN2.

Anish Shroff will call play-by-play for both games, alongside analysts Quint Kessenich and Paul Carcaterra. Online streaming of both games is available through Watch ESPN.

NCAA lacrosse semifinals schedule

Location: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough

Time: Albany vs. Yale, noon ET; Maryland vs. Duke, 2:30 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Streaming: Watch ESPN