Blue Devils fall in lacrosse semifinal

Duke

Blue Devils fall in lacrosse semifinal

May 26, 2012

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Foxborough, Mass. — Duke University fell short of the 2012 Men's NCAA Lacrosse Championship Saturday, losing 16-10 to ACC rival Maryland in the national semifinal.

The Terps advanced to the championship game for a second straight season. They lost, 9-7, to Virginia in 2011.

The Blue Devils (15-5) were the No. 3 seed in the tournament, and it was their sixth consecutive appearance in the lacrosse Final Four.

Maryland (12-5) went out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Billy Gribbin and tacked on a third before the Blue Devils got on the board. Duke closed to within one, 4-3, on a goal by CJ Costabile in the second quarter, but never got any closer.

Duke's Dan Wigrizer allowed 13 goals before being pulled in the fourth quarter as Maryland put the game out of reach. The Terps sealed the victory, pouring on six goals in the fourth quarter.

Nine players scored for Maryland and four of them finished with multiple goals in a shooting performance the Terps' basketball team would envy. Drew Snider led all scorers with four goals. Owen Blye had three.

"Duke's a great team. They made a couple runs in the game and fortunately our defense was able to come up with some stops and the offense was able to keep producing all the way until the end of the game," said goalie Niko Amato, who finished with 10 saves.

Justin Turri and Robert Rotanz each had two for the Devils.

Maryland's victory avenged a 6-5 Duke win in the ACC Tournament. The teams played once in the regular season. That round went to the Terps, 10-7.

Maryland will meet Loyola (Md.) Monday at 1 p.m. for the championship. The Greyhounds (17-1) are the top-ranked team in the country. Their sole loss came April 28 against Johns Hopkins.