Complete Team Effort Leads No. 7 Duke Past Jacksonville, 16-10

Saturday, February 21

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

Jacksonville

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Complete Team Effort Leads No. 7 Duke Past Jacksonville, 16-10

2/21/2026 3:27:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C.—Duke attackman Benn Johnston registered five goals and the seventh-ranked Blue Devils outscored Jacksonville, 8-4, in the second half to come away with a 16-10 victory over Jacksonville in non-conference men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.

Max Sloat added three tallies and Thomas Mencke finished with four points from two goals and two assists to help lead the offense. Defensively, Duke was outstanding in holding the Dolphins to just 10 goals on 30 shots and forcing 22 turnovers.

Seniors Aidan Maguire and Charlie Johnson headlined the defensive effort with a combined seven caused turnovers and five ground balls. Maguire also provided two assists in the win.

How it Happened

Duke and Jacksonville traded goals in an opening half that featured three lead changes and five ties. The Dolphins opened the scoring three minutes into the contest before Mencke fired in the first of his two on the afternoon.
Johnston put Duke ahead for the first time with a goal at the midway point of the period. Jacksonville responded with a 3-1 run to regain the 4-3 advantage in the early minutes of the second quarter. Johnston proceeded to answer with a 3-1 run of his own as the junior scored a trio of tallies in a span of 2:29 to put Duke ahead, 6-5.
After Jacksonville's Nicky Brown tied the game with 7:38 left in the second stanza, Duke closed the half with two unanswered for an 8-6 lead heading into the locker room.
Michael Ortlieb made it a 7-6 game with his first of the afternoon on a feed from Mencke. Maguire's heads up play at the end of the quarter gave Duke all the momentum into the locker room. The senior captain raced down the field and found a wide-open Mac Christmas for the score with two ticks left on the clock.
Duke widened its lead to three, 9-6, with Johnston's fifth marker of the game three minutes into the quarter. Johnston beat his man and fired a left-handed shot over the right shoulder of Jacksonville goalie Ryan Della Rocco.
Jack Taylor pulled the Dolphins within two, but it was all Blue Devils in the final 25 minutes as Duke outscored its opponent, 7-3, in that span.
Duke got goals from four different players over a 4-1 run that spanned 12 minutes and put the game away for the Blue Devils at 12-8. Freshman Brady Scioletti started the action with an unassisted score, and Kyle Colsey finished a pass from Christmas to cap the spurt.
Senior Jack Pappendick converted on man-up with midway through the fourth quarter and Sloat rounded out the scoring for Duke.
Cal Girard was solid yet again at the faceoff dot, winning 14-of-26 restarts and picking up six ground balls. Freshman Will Pedicano also collected six ground balls to go with his caused turnover.
In goal, Patrick Jameison made 10 saves to earn the victory. Della Rocco had 11 stops.
The Dolphins were led on offense by Daylin John-Hill's hat trick.

Notes

Duke moves to 14-2 all-time against Jacksonville and to 91-21 overall in the month of February.
Benn Johnston recorded five goals for his third hat trick this season and the seventh of his career. It was his second consecutive game with at least five points and the third overall in his career.
- Johnston, playing attack this season has 17 goals after four games. He had 28 tallies all last season on the midfield and needed 10 games to reach 17 goals a year ago.
Max Sloat registered his second hat trick of the season and the sixth of his career. He has 12 goals for the year, one third of his total in 18 games a year ago.
Aidan Maguire's four caused turnovers match his career high. He has recorded at least three caused turnovers six times in his career.
- Maguire's two assists for the afternoon tied his career high.
Will Pedicano picked up a career-high six ground balls.
Cal Girard matched his career high in faceoff wins with 14. The six ground balls mark his eighth outing with at least five pickups.