March 4, 2006

Complete Results

Durham, N.C. - The showdown between No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Maryland lived up to the hype as the Terrapins downed the Blue Devils, 8-7 in overtime on senior midfielder Xander Ritz's game winner with 2:46 remaining ion the overtime period.

The first quarter saw the Blue Devils start out quickly, jumping out to a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game when Matt Zash took a feed from Reade Seligmann and beat Terp goalie Harry Alford. The two teams traded possession and Alford and Duke goalie Dan Loftus, who finished with 20 saves, made several top-notch saves.

The Blue Devils committed the first penalty of the game with a holding call at 2:35. The Terps failed to capitalize on the penalty, but Ritz scored the tying goal just after the penalty was released. Duke would take a 2-1 lead into the second quarter on A Kyle Dowd goal with just 21 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The second quarter opened with Ritz scoring his second unassisted goal of the game with just 33 seconds elapsed. After scoring Maryland's first two goals, Ritz would pick up an assist on the Terps' third goal of the game, finding an open Dan Groot, who fired a shot past Loftus for his first collegiate goal and a 3-2 Terrapin lead. Ritz scored his third of the game with the Terps holding a two-man advantage at the 11:04 mark off an assist from Joe Walters.

The two teams ratcheted up the intensity over the next eight minutes with both team being assessed penalties. The Blue Devils pulled to within a goal at the 3:41 mark when Bret Thompson scored off an assist from Matt Danowski.

Maryland took a 4-3 lead into the third quarter, but Dowd scored his second goal of the game to tie the score at 4-4. Dowd's goal came at 12:01 with a man-advantage after Maryland's Bill McGlone was assessed a 30-second holding penalty. The Terps answered with a man-up goal of their own to regain a one-goal lead at the 6:17 mark. Walters laced a cross crease pass to Ritz, who scored his fourth goal of the game.

The Terrapins continued to capitalize on Duke penalties to take a 6-4 lead with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter. Ritz fired a pass to McGlone, who dodged his defender and bounced a shot past Loftus for the two-goal Maryland lead. The Blue Devils came right back with a man-up goal from Matt Zash off an assist from Peter Lamade to make the score 6-5. Duke's Zack Greer scored less than two minutes later to knot the game at 6-6.

Danowski gave the Blue Devil's their first lead of the half at 14:24 of fourth quarter when he skipped a shot past Alford for a 7-6 Duke lead.

After an impressive display of stick skill by Walters to retain a Maryland possession, the Blue Devils called for a stick check at 10:33. Walters' stick proved to be legal and he responded two minutes later by scoring his first goal of the season to tie the score at 7-7. The game remained that way through the fourth quarter setting up Ritz's heroics.

The Blue Devils never had possession of the ball in the extra session as Maryland senior face-off specialist David Tamberrino won his 10th draw of the game to give the Terps the final possession. Tamberrino finished the game with 10 wins in 18 face-offs, helping Maryland control the tempo of the game and keeping the ball away from Duke's offense.

Defensively, the Terps were led by Alford, who made 12 saves and picked-up a team high four groundballs. Junior Jimmy Borell also picked up four groundballs, while junior Ryan Clarke and sophomore Joe Cinosky each caused two turnovers.

Game Notes:
• With today's 8-7 win Maryland is 54-15 all-time vs. Duke.
• It was the sixth time Maryland and Duke have played an overtime game. The Terps are now 4-2 vs. the Blue Devils in OT.
• With his assist of Xander Ritz's second quarter goal Joe Walters extended his point scoring streak to 35 games.
• Xander Ritz extended his point scoring streak scoring to 19 with four goals and an assist.
• With a goal and two assists, Walters now has 41 multi-point games in his career.
• For Ritz, his five-point game raises his career multi-point game total to 32. He also now has seven career hat tricks.
• When Walters and Bill McGlone score goals in the same game Maryland is now 24-9.