Defense Leads No. 6 Duke to 8-7 Win Over No. 14 Denver

Sunday, March 22

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

8-0, 0-0

Denver

4-4, 0-0

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Denver	4	0	2	1	7
Duke	0	7	1	0	8

Duke's Charlie Johnson holds the ball in his stick and moves up the field.

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Defense Leads No. 6 Duke to 8-7 Win Over No. 14 Denver

3/22/2026 4:06:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 6 Duke men's withstood a late push by No. 14 Denver, forcing a turnover in the final minute of regulation to register an 8-7 victory in men's non-conference lacrosse action Sunday afternoon on Freeman Field at Koskinen Stadium.

The Blue Devil defense was the story of the game, forcing 17 Denver turnovers while holding the Pioneers to just three goals over the final 54 minutes of regulation. Sophomore Nikolas Menendez headlined the stat sheet for the Duke defense with four caused turnovers, while freshman Will Pedicano added two takeaways.

Offensively, Duke had five different goal scorers on the day with senior Max Sloat leading the way with a hat trick.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Denver jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes. The Pioneers scored on extra man four minutes into the game and then added three more goals from three different players over the next five minutes.
The Pioneers' defense was outstanding in the opening quarter, forcing Duke into tough shots as the Blue Devils only hit the target four times on 16 shots in the period.
Junior Cal Girard ended Duke's scoring drought off the opening faceoff, firing a shot past Grayson Manning to make it a 4-1 game. Just over a minute later it was Benn Johnston firing home a transition goal on a pass from Nikolas Menendez.
Duke went on a six-minute scoring drought, but the Blue Devils' defense remained stout in keeping the Pioneers off the board during that stretch.
Tomas Delgado face dodged his man and bounced one in at the 7:28 mark and rookie Michael Ortlieb completed the comeback with the assist from Johnston.
The offense continued to find success in the final five minutes as freshman Brady Scioletti gave Duke its first lead of the game. Max Sloat stretched the Blue Devil lead to three at the half with two markers in the final 90 seconds.
Duke held Denver to just three shots in the quarter and without a goal for the final 21:13 of the first half. The Pioneers had six turnovers in the period as Duke outshot Denver, 18-3, in the second frame.
Scoring slowed for the Blue Devils in the third quarter with Sloat providing the lone tally. Denver's Cody Malawsky chipped in two for the Pioneers to bring the score to 8-6 after 45 minutes of action.
Trailing by two goals heading into the fourth stanza, Denver pulled within one, 8-7, with 10:30 left in the game. Duke buckled down on defense over the next nine minutes, but was unable to find success on offense as Denver held the Blue Devils to five shots and forced four turnovers.
Denver regained possession with 1:11 remaining in regulation and called a timeout. The Pioneers came out of the break searching for the equalizer but it was to no avail, as Duke's defense forced a turnover and ran out the clock to secure the win.

NOTES

After allowing four goals in the opening six minutes, the Blue Devil defense allowed just three goals over the final 54 minutes of the game.
The Blue Devils forced 17 Denver turnovers and while committing a season low 10 turnovers
Max Sloat recorded his third hat trick and seventh multi-goal outing of the year.
Nikolas Menendez tallied a career-high four caused turnovers
Aidan Maguire had a solid all-around game with four ground balls and a caused turnover.

UP NEXT