Maryland (14-0) vs Duke (14-2)
When & Where: Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, Pratt and Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field (East Hartford, Conn.)
Television: ESPN2 (Streaming on WatchESPN) - Watch Live
Broadcasters: Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Quint Kessenich (color), Paul Carcatera (Analyst)
Series history: Maryland leads the all-time series 62-31, with the Blue Devils defeating the Terps 13-8 in the Final Four on May 26, 2018.
The No. 3 seed Terps enter Saturday afternoon's matchup with former ACC rival and No. 2 seed Duke as the only undefeated team remaining, coming off of a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win over Notre Dame in South Bend in the quarterfinals.
Like the Fighting Irish a week ago, Duke will present the Terps with arguably their biggest test yet this season. The Blue Devils enter the semifinals with a record of 14-2, with one of those losses being a 13-8 defeat to the Irish in South Bend.
The semifinal matchup with Duke will mark the second straight game that features a pair of Tewaaraton finalists in Maryland senior attackman Jared Bernhardt and Duke senior attackman Michael Sowers.
A graduate transfer that played the first four seasons of his career at Princeton, Sowers leads the Blue Devils and is third nationally with 79 points (35g, 44a), while averaging 4.94 points per game, good for 11th nationally.
Like Notre Dame's Pat Kavanagh a week ago, Sowers is equally good creating for others as he is himself.
Duke's powerful attack also features senior Joe Robertson, a three-year starter who enters Saturday's matchup with Maryland having recorded 54 points (36g, 18a) and freshman Brennan O'Neill (44g, 10a), who enters championship weekend averaging 2.75 goals per game, good for 15th nationally. They also lead a man-up unit that enters the semifinals ranked second nationally with 24 goals in 49 attempts.
Led by junior Brett Makar and seniors Nick Grill and Matt Rahill, Maryland's close defense will have it's hands full with Duke's attack, but playing against Tewaaraton finalist Bernhardt in practice helps with the preparation.
“Obviously, Sowers is a very talented player," said Makar. "And getting to guard Jared [Bernhardt] every day will definitely kind of give you that sense that you're prepared. And obviously our scout team, as well, has done a phenomenal job all year. Huge credit to those guys every single week to make sure we're prepared as best as we can. And they're always giving us a great look. So, they've been phenomenal this week so far. And we're excited for this weekend."
On defense, Duke is led by another graduate transfer, goalie Mike Adler. A three-year starter and two-time captain at his former school St. Joseph's, Adler enters Saturday's semifinal matchup ranked 17th nationally, giving up an average of 9.88 goals per game.
In front of him, the close defense is led by senior JT Giles-Harris, a three-time All-American and USILA Defensive Player of the Year and sophomore Kenny Brower. As a whole, the unit is tied with Maryland's, giving up just 10.00 goals per game.
"Very athletic guys, very rangy guys, great sticks, guys that anticipate well and cover a lot of ground, can check you, get into your hands, trail check you, double you, do some disruptive things that a lot of teams, we just don't see a lot," said Maryland head coach John Tillman.
"We've got to do a good job with stick protection and moving our feet and our instincts," added Tillman. "We've kind of talked about some things, watched some film, we've done some drills with that. We just can't take some simple exchanges for granted."
Once again, the difference in the game could be Maryland's depth, particularly on offense, where besides the nation's leading scorer Bernhardt (64g, 23a), the Terps also feature Logan Wisnauskas (34g, 29a), Daniel Maltz (38g, 10a), Kyle Long (15g, 25a) and Anthony DeMaio (20g, 16a). With rain in the forecast, Maryland's accuracy shooting the ball could play a major factor.
