Duke Takes on Georgetown in NCAA Quarterfinal Sunday

Sunday, May 17

Newark, Del.

2:30 p.m.

Duke University

Georgetown

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Duke men's lacrosse Aidan Maguire and Connor Nolen celebrate a goal

Photo by: Matthew Mitrani

Duke Takes on Georgetown in NCAA Quarterfinal Sunday

5/16/2026 7:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

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The Opening Faceoff

Duke takes on Georgetown in the NCAA quarterfinals after posting 14-12 comeback victory over Richmond in the opening round. The Blue Devils and Hoyas both are unseeded, upsetting the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, respectively.
The Blue Devils are 10-4 overall with the four losses coming by a combined eight goals. Georgetown is 11-4 and BIG EAST Champions. The Hoyas' four setbacks came by a total of 20 goals with the last loss coming March 22 at Syracuse.
Junior Benn Johnston paces the offense with 37 goals and eight assists for 45 points. Max Sloat is having a solid year out of the midfield with 32 goals and 38 points overall. Kyle Colsey has 29 goals at attack and Michael Ortlieb rounds out the trio with 22. Brady Scioletti has played both midfield and attack and owns 23 goals and six assists. Thomas Mencke and Ortlieb are tied for a team-high 17 assists.
The Blue Devils have a stalwart defense and are holding teams to 8.93 goals and to just 28-percent shooting. The close defense trio of Charlie Johnson (17), Nikolas Menendez (15), Henry Bard (17) have combined for 49 caused turnovers and 73 ground balls. Menendez has been excellent off the ground with 25 ground balls, while Aidan Maguire leads the rope unit with 15 takeaways and 37 GBs. In goal, Buck Cunningham has a .506 save percentage and 10.24 goals against average.

By the Numbers
36 - Percent (74-of-205) of Duke's goals scored by the freshman trio of Kyle Colsey, Michael Ortlieb and Brady Scioletti
.275 - Duke opponents' shot percentage this season with the Blue Devils holding nine of 14 foes under 30 percent shooting
.336 - Georgetown's shot percentage in 2026 with the Hoyas shooting under 30 percent just five times - three of which were losses
32 - Goals by senior Max Sloat - the most by a Duke midfielder since Deemer Class had 50 in 2016
3 - Of the ACC's top seven goal scorers who are Blue Devils - Benn Johnston (2.64), Max Sloat (2.29) and Colsey (2.23)
3 - Goals by Duke's second midfield line in the first round win at Richmond
4 - Goals by Duke's second midfield line in the previous six games combined
.591 - Cal Girard's faceoff win percentage this season, winning at least 50 percent of his restarts in 11 of 14 games
9.47 - Points per game for Georgetown attackmen Liam and Rory Connor - 5.00 and 4.47 per game, respectively
3 - Games this season Duke has allowed two players to combine for nine or more points

Series History

Duke and Georgetown face off for the 32nd time overall and for the third time in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils are 24-7 all-time against the Hoyas with the last meeting between the two programs coming in last year's NCAA Tournament first round - a 16-12 win for the unseeded Hoyas.
Georgetown has defeated Duke in both NCAA Tournament meetings in 1999 and 2025, a 17-14, victory at Hofstra, and last year's 16-12 win in Durham.

Pupil Meets Professor

For the second consecutive year, it will be a mentor vs. mentee matchup with Georgetown head coach Kevin Warne going up against his head coach as a player John Danowski. Warne played for Danowski at Hofstra from 1996-1999. The Pride went 41-18 in that span, advancing to three NCAA Tournaments and to the quarterfinals in 1999.

Duke In NCAA Tournament Tidbits

Duke is playing in its 28th NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils are 45-24 all-time in NCAA postseason games and 14-6 in NCAA quarterfinal games.
The Blue Devils are 36-14 in the NCAA Tournament under John Danowski and have advanced to the quarterfinals in 15 of 18 NCAA Tournament appearances since 2007.
John Danowski has 40 NCAA Championship wins (4 at Hofstra, 36 at Duke) to lead all active Division I coaches and rank second all-time behind Bill Tierney's 44 as the DI leader.
The Blue Devils are one of eight Division I programs to appear in at least 28 NCAA Tournaments. Duke's 45 wins in 28 showings make it one of 10 teams to have more wins than appearances. The Blue Devils became the fifth Division I program with 45 NCAA postseason wins with the victory at Richmond.

A Win Over Georgetown Would...

Be head coach John Danowski's 495th career win
Be Danowski's 276th win at Duke
Be Danowski's 41st NCAA Tournament win
Be Duke's third top 10 win this season
Advance Duke to its 15th Championship Weekend
Give Duke its fifth top 20 win of the season and 148th under John Danowski

Dominance At The Dot

Junior Cal Girard was dominant at the dot against Richmond, winning 21-of-27 faceoffs and picking up a career-high 16 ground balls. It was the second most wins for Duke as a team all season, while the 75-percent success rate was the best.
Duke has won at least 50 percent of faceoffs in 12 of 14 games this season and won 13-of-31 against the country's best FOGO in Brady Wambach. Georgetown has won 50 percent in just six games this season. The Blue Devils bested Virginia at the dot 15-12, while the Hoyas lost the battle 16-12.

Duke Puts the D in Defense

Defensively, Duke has held nine of its 14 opponents to single digits and to under 30 percent shooting. The Blue Devils are allowing only 32.5 shots per game with just 18 of those shots ending up on target. Overall, Duke's opponents are shooting 28 percent for the year.
Duke kept Notre Dame to its fewest goals in a game (7) since a 10-4 loss to Virginia in 2019. The 16 percent shooting was the lowest by a Duke opponent this season and the worst shooting performance by the Irish since that same setback to the Cavaliers. In the first round, Duke held Richmond to just 27 shots, 18 below its season average. The Blue Devils have held seven of 14 opponents to 30 or fewer shots in a game.

Ground Ball Benn

Benn Johnston has been great off the ground on attack this season with 36 ground balls (2.6/gm). He ranks third overall on the team in pickups. The 36 loose balls are the most by a Duke attackman since Jack Bruckner had 39 in 2016. Bruckner reached that total in 19 games. The last Duke attackman to have at least 40 ground balls in a season was Jordan Wolf in 2013, finishing with 41 in 21 outings.
Johnston's 2.6 ground balls per game leads all attackmen nationally and is tied for the third highest average at Duke in the past two decades. Matt Danowski averaged 3.8 and Zack Greer 3.0 in 2007.

Up Next

The winner advances to Championship Weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. The semifinal games will be played at Scott Stadium at University of Virginia Saturday, May 23 at noon and 2:30 p.m.. The national title game is set for May 25 at 1 p.m.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's lacrosse, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMLAX".

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