They’ll bring back a ton of talent for 2022, but their key losses (including national defensive player of the year JT Giles-Harris along with Sowers and others) mean that this is a team that will enter next year with some question marks. Looking Aheadįor Duke, a one-year window afforded by the transfer portal comes to a close. More surprisingly, Jake Naso won just 36% of his draws today at the faceoff stripe, and Duke as a whole won just 11 of the game’s 24 faceoffs. Adler did manage 11 saves, but his 44% was significantly lower than his season average. In my prediction for this game, I chose Duke because I thought they had the advantage in both goalie and faceoff play. In fact, Maryland won all over the field, not just on the scoreboard. As a whole, Maryland’s defense held Duke to a dismal 15.6% shooting percentage as a team. Makar and fellow All-American defenseman Nick Grill had fantastic games, helping hold the Sowers-O’Neill pairing to just three goals on 13 combined shots. It helps that Duke was forced into a ton of bad takes by a Maryland defense that stifled nearly every good shooting opportunity. Redshirt freshman goalie Logan McNaney turned in his best performance of his young career, going off for 17 saves. 10 guys, including defenseman Brett Makar, recorded a point today, in spite of the fact that Bernhardt had 7 (5G, 2A) all by himself. Nine of Maryland’s 15 goals were assisted. That team-first mentality showed up today. 6Yx08I5J5M- Maryland Lacrosse Game Recap : DUKE VS MARYLAND

Rather than go hunting for pure talent, Maryland focused on what makes it program great: smart, team-first players on offense, an elite team-first defense, and the Be the Best mentality that drives Terps to seemingly spend a lot more time in the weight room than other programs (these boys thicccccc). They handed the keys to Jared Bernhardt, and watched him shatter program records on his way to (barring a massive shocker) a Tewaaraton trophy and a berth in the national championship game. Their offensive system features a ton of talent, but they didn’t build a Ferrari and then try to have six guys in a trench coat drive it. Homegrown, MostlyĬompare that to Maryland, the still-undefeated 3-seed who will be making yet another appearance in the title game. Why, then, did Duke never truly let him? Instead of building around Sowers, who finished his career only trailing Lyle Thompson in career points, Duke tried to force a square peg into a round hole, making Sowers just one guy in Duke’s slow, methodical system. He’s a jitterbug, a lightning-fast player who can work wonders with the ball in his stick. Sowers, it turns out, wasn’t the perfect fit for Duke.

If NCAA Lacrosse 21 was a video game, these dudes would win every simulation.īut that’s not how lacrosse works. We looked at the roster on paper, and we saw greatness. Now, they’d also have a superstar in Princeton’s Michael Sowers and the best goalie they’ve had in quite some time in St. Here was a Duke team that was always in contention already, that had strong pieces returning in guys like Nakeie Montgomery, JT Giles-Harris, and the like. When Duke secured a fistful of the most sought-after transfer portal guys at the beginning of this season, we (the collective lax media) bought into the hype. Transfer Portal won't buy you a national championship.- Chris Jastrzembski Talent over Team

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