Duke Survives Richmond's Third-Quarter Punch and Keeps Moving
Duke had the better start. Richmond had the loudest quarter. The Blue Devils still had the answer when the game got uncomfortable, which is usually the difference between advancing and spending the offseason replaying one bad stretch.
Duke beat Richmond 14-12 on Friday at Robins Stadium in the first round of the Division I NCAA tournament. It was not clean, and it definitely was not stress-free. The Blue Devils led 6-4 at halftime, got hit with a 6-3 Richmond third quarter, then responded with five fourth-quarter goals to take the game back.
That last part is the story. Richmond made the push. Duke did not fold.
Kershis Gave Duke the Centerpiece
No. 55 Liam Kershis was Duke's most efficient hammer, finishing with three goals and two assists on six shots — all six on cage. In a two-goal tournament game, that kind of shooting matters. No. 19 Benn Johnston added two goals on eight shots, No. 2 Kyle Colsey had two goals and an assist, and No. 23 Aidan Maguire scored twice while grabbing five ground balls.
Duke spread the rest around just enough. No. 11 Michael Ortlieb had a goal and two assists. No. 7 Tomas Delgado, No. 8 Jack Pappendick, No. 30 Connor Nolen and No. 77 Anthony Drago each added a goal. It was not one player dragging the Blue Devils through the bracket; it was a scoring group that gave Richmond too many fires to put out.
Richmond's Third Quarter Made It Real
The Spiders did not go quietly. Richmond turned a 6-4 halftime deficit into a one-goal game dynamic by winning the third quarter 6-3. No. 10 Gavin Creo scored four goals on seven shots, while No. 7 Joe Sheridan and No. 11 Daniel Picart each scored twice. No. 5 Aidan O'Neil added a goal and two assists, and No. 27 Lucas Littlejohn had a goal and an assist.
Richmond actually shot efficiently enough to win plenty of tournament games: 12 goals on 27 shots, 19 on goal. The issue was volume and Duke's ability to keep generating quality possessions. Duke put 26 of its 40 shots on cage and won the ground-ball category 35-27.
Girard and Cunningham Were Quietly Huge
The obvious scoring names matter, but Duke's possession backbone mattered just as much. No. 41 Cal Girard piled up 16 ground balls, a monster number in a game decided by two goals. When Richmond was trying to turn the second half into chaos, those extra possessions were oxygen for Duke.
In goal, No. 44 Buck Cunningham played all 60 minutes and made seven saves. Richmond goalie No. 31 Connor Knight was busier, making 12 saves against 14 goals allowed, which tells the shape of the game pretty clearly: Duke created more pressure, Richmond made a serious run, and the Blue Devils had just enough finish to survive it.
Now Duke moves on with the useful kind of tournament scar tissue. The Blue Devils were tested, punched back late, and left Richmond with a first-round win instead of a bracket obituary.
