WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Towson University men's lacrosse team took a 2-goal lead into halftime during a neutral-site showdown versus No. 12/No. 14 Duke but lost to the Blue Devils 14-7 at the Capitol Classic Lacrosse Tournament.
 
The game was the last of three played Saturday at Audi Field, the home of the D.C. United.
 
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 advantage after the first quarter as Kyle Berkeley assisted Luke Shilling and Ryan Swain. Alex Reid and Nick DeMaio added second period tallies as Towson took a 4-2 lead into halftime. Evan Long, starting for the injured Shane Brennan, made six first half saves.
 
Duke scored five times in the first 3:03 of the second half to take the lead. The Blue Devils won 18-of-24 faceoffs, including the first five in the second half.
 
Reid scored two second half goals for his first career-hat trick. Luke Downs relieved Long and made nine saves.
 
"We had a good first half. I thought we were controlling the tempo," Towson head coach Shawn Nadelen said. "We wanted to outwork them, and we did a good job of it during the first half, but we just didn't have it in the second half. Duke came out and scored three quick ones, all around the cage. Our defense got a little out of sorts. They got rolling on the faceoffs and controlled the ball to keep the momentum."
 
Records: 

• Towson – 3-5
• Duke – 8-3

 
How it Happened: 

• Towson struck first at the 9:39 of the first quarter when Shilling buried a Berkeley feed.
• Swain made it 2-0 Towson about a minute a half later when he scored left-handed from 15 yards.
• Long made three first quarter saves as Towson shut out Duke after 15 minutes of play.
• Reid increased the advantage to 3-0 five and a half minutes into the second quarter with an unassisted goal.
• After Duke narrowed the gap to 3-2, James Avanzato found DeMaio who scored at the 1:40 mark to give the Tigers a 4-2 halftime lead.
• Duke took the lead with three goals in the first two minutes of play in the third quarter then added two more in less than two minutes. The lead was 7-4 with 3:47 gone in the quarter.
• The Blue Devils extended it to 9-4 before Reid scored a nifty backhand goal with 5:26 left in the frame.
• DeMaio narrowed the gap to 10-6 just 35 seconds into the fourth quarter, but the Tigers never got closer.
• Reid completed his hat trick by quick sticking a Shilling feed with 6:52 to play.

Key Stats:

• Towson successfully cleared 17-of-19 attempts, including all 11 in the first half.
• Sophomore Josh Webber, who missed all last season with an upper body injury, made his first career start. He ran first midfield with Berkeley and Swain.

Inside the Numbers: 

• Saturday's showdown at Audi Field was the 13th meeting all-time between Towson and Duke, a series that launched May 6, 1966. The Tigers lead the series 7-6, winning six of the first seven meetings. Duke has won the last five. This was the first neutral site meeting between the teams since Towson's 12-10 NCAA Tournament First Round win over the Blue Devils at UMBC Stadium on May 12, 2001. That is Towson's long win in the program's Division I Era, which began in 1980.

Next Game: 
Towson will visit Denver next Saturday, March 26. It will be the third of four straight games away from Johnny Unitas® Stadium for the Tigers. After an April 2 visit to Philadelphia to take on Drexel, Shawn Nadelen's team returns home April 9 versus UMass.