Duke Opens NCAA Tournament Action at No. 3 Richmond Saturday

Saturday, May 9

Richmond, Va.

7:30 p.m.

Duke University

Richmond

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Four Duke men's lacrosse players celebrate a goal against North Carolina

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Opens NCAA Tournament Action at No. 3 Richmond Saturday

5/8/2026 9:21:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Watch Game Notes Live Stats NCAA Bracket

The Opening Faceoff

Duke opens NCAA Tournament play Saturday night at No. 4 seed Richmond. It is the Blue Devils 28th appearance in the postseason event and the 18th under head coach John Danowski. It is just the fifth time the Blue Devils are unseeded and the first since 2017.
The Blue Devils are 9-4 and ranked No. 13 in the USILA and Inside Lacrosse polls and 15th by USA Lacrosse magazine. Richmond is the consensus No. 3 team in the nation and sports a 14-1 record.
Junior Benn Johnston paces the offense with 35 goals and eight assists for 43 points. Max Sloat is having a solid year out of the midfield with 32 goals and 38 points overall. Freshman Michael Ortlieb has added 21 goals and Kyle Colsey 37 goals at attack, while Brady Scioletti has played both midfield and attack and owns 23 goals and six assists. Thomas Mencke has a team-high 17 assists.
The Blue Devils' have a stalwart defense and are holding teams to 8.69 goals and to just 26-percent shooting. The close defense trio of Charlie Johnson (17), Nikolas Menendez (15), Henry Bard (15) have combined for 47 caused turnovers and 71 ground balls. Menendez has been excellent off the ground with 25 ground balls, while Aidan Maguire leads the rope unit with 13 takeaways and 32 GBs. In goal, Buck Cunningham has earned the past two starts, posting a .587 save percentage and a 9.50 goals against average. Cal Girard anchors the faceoff duties, going 122-of-215 (.567).

By the Numbers
37 - Percent (71-of-91) of Duke's goals scored by the freshman trio of Kyle Colsey, Michael Ortlieb and Brady Scioletti
.264 - Duke opponents' shot percentage this season with the Blue Devils holding nine of 13 foes under 30 percent shooting
.340 - Richmond's shot percentage in 2026 with the Spiders shooting under 30 percent five times, including three of the past four
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 six goal scorers who are Blue Devils - Benn Johnston (2.69), Max Sloat (2.46) and Colsey (2.25)
3 - Of the A-10's top four goal scorers who are Spiders - Lucas Littlejohn (2.67), Aidan O'Neil (2.27) and Gavin Greo (2.20)
.567 - Cal Girard's faceoff win percentage this season, winning at least 50 percent of his restarts in 10 of 13 games
.909 - Richmond's clearing percentage in 2026, eighth nationally
.781 - Duke opponents' clearing percentage this season, sixth nationally
4 - Common opponents between Duke and Richmond - Virginia, Cornell, Notre Dame and Saint Joseph's

Series History

Duke and Richmond meet for the 11th time overall and for the second time in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils are 9-1 against the Spiders. Of the nine victories, four have come by a single goal, including last year's 13-12 double overtime win and the 12-11 victory in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Duke has held Richmond to single digits in five of the 10 matchups and has scored at least 10 goals in nine of the 10 outings with the Spiders.

Chemotti Takes On Alma Mater

Richmond head coach Dan Chemotti is no stranger to Duke's lacrosse success as he was a crucial piece of it from 1999-02. A four-year letterwinner for the Blue Devils, Chemotti helped lead Duke to consecutive ACC titles in 2001 and 2002, earning ACC All-Tournament honors in 2001. He also captained the 2022 squad.
In the NCAA Tournament, Chemotti helped the Blue Devils to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2000 and 2002. Following his career at Duke, Chemotti played a handful of seasons in Major League Lacrosse for the New Jersey Pride and Chesapeake Bayhakws.

Duke In NCAA Tournament Tidbits

Duke is playing in its 28th NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils are 44-24 all-time in NCAA postseason games and 20-7 in NCAA first-round games.
The Blue Devils are 35-14 in the NCAA Tournament under John Danowski and have advanced to the quarterfinals in 14 of 17 NCAA Tournament appearances since 2007.
John Danowski has 39 NCAA Championship wins (4 at Hofstra, 35 at Duke) to lead all active Division I coaches and rank second all-time behind Bill Tierney's 44 as a DI leader.
The Blue Devils are one of eight Division I programs to appear in at least 28 NCAA Tournaments. Duke's 44 wins in 27 showings makes it one of 10 teams to have more wins than appearances. A win Saturday would make the Blue Devils the fifth Division I program with 45 NCAA postseason wins in Duke history.

Second Half Struggles

Duke struggled offensively in the second half in its four losses, being outscored 26-14. The Blue Devils have failed to score a goal twice in the fourth quarter - a win over Denver and a loss to Cornell.
The third quarters have been the most detrimental to the Blue Devils in the four-game stretch. Duke's foes are outscoring the Blue Devils, 19-7, in the third quarter in the four setbacks. Overall for the year, Duke opponents are winning the third quarter, 48-34.

First Half Fireworks

For as much as the Blue Devils have struggled to score in the second half, Duke has been excellent in the first halves this season. The Blue Devils have outscored foes 104-51. The second quarter has been the most dominant at 68-23.
Duke has led at the half in every game this season and outscored each of its opponents in the second period. The Blue Devils are holding opponents to just eight shots on average and 4.6 on goal in the second frame

Shots! Shots! Shots!

Duke averaged 50.4 shots per game during the regular season, marking the first time since the shot clock was instituted in 2019 the Blue Devils hit the 50-shot average benchmark.

Against Ranked Opponents

Under John Danowski, Duke is 146-81 (.643) versus USILA top-20 opponents. Duke is 3-4 when playing teams ranked in the top 20 at the time of the game.
Duke defeated then No. 18 Saint Joseph's (12-6) and No. 14 Denver (8-7) before dropping four straight to top 20 opponents by a total of eight goals. The Blue Devils' highest ranked RPI win is No. 2 North Carolina and then Saint Joseph's (21). The Blue Devils are 1-4 versus the RPI top 10.

Against the Top Five Since 2007

Duke will face a top-five opponent for the 77th time under head coach John Danowski. The Blue Devils are 41-35 against top-five foes since 2007 and playing their third straight team ranked in the top five.
Prior to the victory at North Carolina, Duke's last win over a top-five team when ranked outside of the top 10 was April 29, 2016 - a 10-9 overtime win over Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament semifinal. The Irish were fourth and Duke ranked 13th.