Duke is 2-3 on the season, but all three of those games have come in February and the calendar flips on Friday. The Blue Devils are just 10-9 in February since 2009, but are 23-5 in March during that same span and four of the five losses came in the state of Maryland (twice to the Terps in Baltimore, once to Maryland in College Park and once at Loyola).
While Duke has struggled defensively (allowing 10.6 goals per game and starting goalie Dan Wigrizer is saving only 43.8% of shots put on goal against him), but the Blue Devil offense has enough firepower to simply outscore opponents.
All three of Duke’s starting attackmen, who are all juniors, – Jordan Wolf, Christian Walsh and Josh Dionne – were named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List last week. Wolf has been sensational so far and leads the Blue Devils with 21 points on 15 goals and six assists. Add in the all-senior first midfield of David Lawson (6-3=9), Jake Tripucka (5-5=10) and Miles Jones (5-2=7) and a second line that includes Will Haus (3-4=7) and Josh Offit (5-2=7) and Deemer Class, who was Inside Lacrosse’s No. 10 freshman in the country coming into the season and you can see the Blue Devils don’t lack for offense.
Three-year starter Chris Hipps, who is paired with two-year starter Henry Lobb and 2013 team captain Bill Connors, headlines Duke’s close defense. Hipps and Lobb are both listed at 6-foot-4 and look to matchup well with Maryland’s Kevin Cooper (6-foot-4) and Owen Blye (6-foot-3).
It’s cliché to say that faceoffs could determine the outcome of the game, but when you consider that Duke’s Brendan Fowler is winning 63.9% of his draws and Maryland’s Charlie Raffa is winning 57.1% of his draws, whoever wins the faceoff battle could win the game. The X factor could be Curtis Holmes, who has only taken 20 faceoffs this season (winning 65.0%), but he’s been great vs. the Blue Devils in his career, winning 64-of-112 (57.1%) with 24 groundballs.
Don’t let the records fool you – this one will be your typical ACC battle, which you will be able to watch from the comfort of your couch thanks to ESPNU (even though the team would prefer to see Terp fans decked out in red and black (or purple) in the stands at Koskinen Stadium on Saturday).
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