No. 5 Duke Hosts No. 18 Saint Joseph’s in Top-20 Matchup Sunday

Sunday, March 1

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

Saint Joseph's

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Benn Johnston No. 19 and No. 2 Kyle Colsey jump for a chest bump in celebration

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 5 Duke Hosts No. 18 Saint Joseph’s in Top-20 Matchup Sunday

2/28/2026 8:15:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes

The Opening Faceoff

Duke continues its five-game homestand to start the season with its first top-20 matchup. The No. 5 Blue Devils welcome 18th-ranked Saint Joseph's to Durham for a 1 p.m., faceoff on ACCNX. The broadcast is available to stream on the ESPN app.
The Blue Devils are 5-0 and No. 5 in the USILA poll and 8th by Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse. Saint Joseph's is 2-1 and ranked 18th by USILA and IL and 16th in the USA Lacrosse rankings.
On the strength of his 11 points in the past two games, junior Benn Johnston paces the offense with 17 goals and one assist for 18 points. Kyle Colsey is right behind him with 10 goals and six assists for 16 points, while Thomas Mencke and Max Sloat pace the midfield with 15 and 13, respectively. Mencke has a team-high 11 assists.
The Blue Devils' stalwart defense is proving why it's considered one of the best in the country, holding teams to 7.75 goals and to just 30.5 shots per game. Charlie Johnson (8), Aidan Maguire (6),Will Pedicano (6) and Henry Bard (4), have combined for 24 caused turnovers and 35 ground balls. Johnson leads the charge off the ground with 13 ground balls. In goal, Patrick Jameison has a 6.68 goals against average and a .560 save percentage.
Duke is unbeaten in the five matchups with the Hawks, winning by an average of 8.2 goals. Last year's matchup in Durham was a narrow 11-9 win for Duke. Two of the past three meetings have been decided by three or fewer goals, while the three contests were by nine-plus tallies.

By the Numbers
32 - Percent of Duke's points this season that have come from rookies Kyle Colsey, Michael Ortlieb, Brady Scioletti
57 - Career caused turnovers for Aidan Maguire, 10 shy of moving into the top five in Duke history
18 - Points for junior Benn Johnston after four games this season at attack
8 - Games it took Johnston to reach 18 points as a midfielder last season
11 - Assists this season for graduate student transfer Thomas Mencke - nearly doubling his total of six in 42 games at Virginia
16 - Points for redshirt freshman Kyle Colsey after four games
3 - Other Blue Devil freshmen in the past 20 years who have registered at least 16 points in their first four collegiate games
488 - Career wins for John Danowski - 12 away from becoming the first Division I men's lacrosse coach in NCAA history to reach 500
.699 - Duke's opponent clear percentage this season, ranking first in the ACC and fourth nationally
.623 - Faceoff win percentage for junior Cal Girard - second in the ACC and 14th nationally
48 - Faceoff wins by Girard after four games, six more than he had in 12 games last season
5.36 - Patrick Jameison's goals against average after two games

About Saint Joseph's

Saint Joseph's got off to a tough start in 2026 with a 20-2 setback at Syracuse. Since then the Hawks have beaten No. 14 Villanova (11-9) and No. 17 Towson (12-11). Tyler Moore and Will Barber lead the offense with five goals apiece, while Ben Dutton has four goals.
Defensively, following giving up 20 goals at Syracuse, the Hawks have held their opponents to 9 and 11 goals, respectively, and to just 24 percent shooting. Saint Joseph's gave up four man-up goals against the Orange, but since then has allowed just one on four penalties.
Matt Fritz has taken all but 27 faceoffs this season and sports a 25-of-49 mark (.510) at the dot with 17 ground balls. In goal, Tommy Gross has a 13.16 goals against average and a .433 save percentage. He has saved 57 percent of shots in the two wins after making just two saves at Syracuse.

Against Ranked Opponents

Under John Danowski, Duke is 142-66 (.682) versus USILA top-20 opponents. Sunday's game will be the first of seven games against a current top-20 squad.
Duke went 5-5 last season against ranked teams and was 3-3 when ranked higher. The Blue Devils were 3-2 in home games against a top-20 foe.

Youth Movement

The Blue Devils started two true freshmen on attack in a season opener for the first time under head coach John Danowski. The last time Duke had two freshmen start regularly at attack was midway through the 2011 season - Jordan Wolf and Christian Walsh. Michael Ortlieb and Brady Scioletti combined for five goals in their debut and seven points in the second game.
In game three it was Colsey and Ortlieb getting the nod and combining for eight goals and two assists for 10 points.
Overall, nine of the 10 Blue Devil true freshmen have seen action with Ortlieb, Scioletti, Anthony Drago, Will Tantillo and Will Pedicano playing significant minutes. After three games, Duke freshman account for 32 percent of the team's total points.
The trio of Colsey, Ortlieb and Scioletti have combined for 37 points - the most by any rookie trio in the past 20 seasons.

A Win Over Saint Joseph's Would...

Be head coach John Danowski's 489th career win
Be Danowski's 270th win at Duke
Be Duke's first top 20 win of the 2026 campaign
Be John Danowski's 143rd at Duke against a Top-20 opponent

Man Down? No Problem

Duke has gone down a man due to a penalty 12 times so far this season and has allowed just two goals for a .833 success rate.
Zach Jepson has been a key member of Duke's man-down unit this season that has allowed just nine shots.

Clear!!!

Duke has been excellent in clearing the ball this season, getting from the defensive box to the offensive box 91 percent of the time (95-of-104). The Blue Devils' worst clearing day came in the season opener against Bellarmine at 88 percent. Duke has cleared over 90 percent in each of the past three games.
Last season, Duke successfully cleared at least 90 percent of its opportunities in four games, finishing the season at 84 percent. The Blue Devils struggled against the Hawks last year in the clearing game at just 61 percent. The last time Duke finished a season with a 90-percent clear rate was in 2023.

Let's Ride

Duke has been very successful this season in the riding game, holding opponents to 72-of-103 in the clearing game (.699). Bellarmine struggled against the Blue Devils' ride in the season opener, clearing successfully just 60-percent of the time. The Blue Devils have held each of their four opponents to under 80 percent clearing.
Duke's opponent clearing percentage has only been below 84 percent for the season twice in the past 20 years - .711 in 2008 and .787 in 2011.

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