No. 4 Duke Travels to Air Force Saturday

Saturday, March 7

USAF Academy, CO

3 p.m.

Duke University

Air Force

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 4 Duke Travels to Air Force Saturday

3/6/2026 2:43:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

The Opening Faceoff

Duke hits the road for the first time this weekend, traveling to Colorado Springs to take on Air Force. It is the first trip for the Blue Devils to the Air Force Academy in 15 previous meetings.
The Blue Devils are 5-0 and No. 4 in the USILA poll, fifth in USA Lacrosse rankings and 8th by Inside Lacrosse. Air Force is 1-4 overall with the win coming against Lafayette, 13-12.
Junior Benn Johnston paces the offense with 20 goals and two assists for 22 points. Kyle Colsey is right behind him with 12 goals and six assists for 18 points, while the trio of Brady Scioletti, Thomas Mencke and Max Sloat pace the midfield with 16, 15 and 13, respectively. Mencke has a team-high 11 assists.
The Blue Devils' stalwart defense is proving why it's considered one of the best in the country, holding teams to 7.40 goals and to just 31.8 shots per game. Charlie Johnson (9), Henry Bard (8), Aidan Maguire (6) and Will Pedicano (6) have combined for 29 caused turnovers and 44 ground balls. Johnson leads the charge off the ground with 13 ground balls. In goal, Patrick Jameison has a 6.60 goals against average and a .588 save percentage.
Duke is 10-5 all-time against Air Force and has won the past three meetings. The Blue Devils have won by 10, 12 and five in those matchups. This will be the first time Duke has played at Air Force and the first time the Blue Devils have played in the state of Colorado since winning at Denver in 2020.

By the Numbers
33 - Percent of Duke's points this season that have come from rookies Kyle Colsey, Michael Ortlieb, Brady Scioletti
7 - Division I teams, including Duke, that remain unbeaten
22 - Points for junior Benn Johnston after five games this season at attack
10 - Games it took Johnston to reach 22 points as a midfielder last season
11 - Assists this season for graduate student transfer Thomas Mencke - nearly doubling his total of six in 42 games at Virginia
18 - Points for redshirt freshman Kyle Colsey after four games
4 - Other Blue Devil freshmen in the past 20 years who have registered at least 18 points in their first five collegiate games
.615 - Duke's man-up offense this season, second best in the ACC and fifth nationally
.875 - Duke's man-down percentage, best in the ACC and seventh among Division I teams
.730 - Duke's opponent clear percentage this season, ranking first in the ACC and fourth nationally
.629 - Faceoff win percentage for junior Cal Girard - second in the ACC and 15th nationally
61 - Faceoff wins by Girard after four games, 19 more than he had in 12 games last season

About Air Force

Air Force has had a tough start to the 2026 season, sitting at 1-4 overall. The Falcons won their first game of the year but have lost four straight.
The Falcons entered the season with four players garnering preseason All-ASUN nods. Caelen Driggs is back after finishing the season ranked fourth nationally in goals (3.53), while midfielders Cole Rassas and Mana Wilhelm garnered recognition. Driggs has just six goals and 11 points overall in five games. Freshamn Christian Schweiger leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and seven assists. Rassas has seven goals and 11 points overall.
The 2025 ASUN Specialist of the Year, Cole Cunningham, was a unanimous vote for LSM in the ASUN preseason voting and has anchored the defensive effort with 12 caused turnovers to rank eighth nationally. He also has a team-high 27 ground balls. In goal, Matt Deedy owns a 13.77 goals against average and a .435 save percentage. He is facing 31 shots per game and has played all but 70 minutes.

Youth Movement

The Blue Devils have started two freshmen at attack all season, marking the first time head coach John Danowski gave the nod to two rookies in a season opener. The last time Duke had two freshmen start regularly at attack was three games into the 2011 season with Jordan Wolf and Christian Walsh. Wolf and Walsh started the final 17 games that year. It's been a combination of Kyle Colsey, Brady Scioletti and Michael Ortlieb down at attack with Colsey and Ortlieb running on the unit for the past three games.
Scioletti has found a home on the first midfield and had a big outing against Saint Joseph's with four goals and two assists. Each of them have had their big days this season. Ortlieb opened the year with a hat trick. Colsey fired home six goals against Vermont and Scioletti most recently with four.

Overall, nine of the 10 Blue Devil true freshmen have seen action with Ortlieb, Scioletti, Anthony Drago, Will Tantillo and Will Pedicano playing significant minutes. After five games, Duke freshmen account for 36 percent of the team's total points.
The trio of Colsey, Ortlieb and Scioletti have combined for 45 points - the most by any rookie trio in the past 20 seasons. Duke is the lone school to have three freshmen averaging at least 1.80 goals per game this season. Colsey and Scioletti's 2.40 goals per game average is tied for fifth among all freshmen nationally.

Lockdown Defense

Defensively, Duke was excellent last season, holding opponents to 10-minute scoreless stretches 23 times, including a season-long 31:00 against North Carolina in the ACC Championship semifinal.
In 2026, Duke has forced four of its opponents to scoring droughts of at least 15 minutes, including keeping Vermont off the board for 27:50 and Saint Joseph's for 30:48. The Hawks managed just one goal in the final 30 minutes last weekend.
The Blue Devils returned each of their top three caused turnover artists and five of the top seven. Duke is allowing just 7.40 goals per game this season to rank second in the ACC and fifth nationally. Opponents are shooting just 23 percent after five games and averaging just 31.8 shots per game.

Man Down? No Problem

Duke has gone down a man due to a penalty 16 times so far this season and has allowed just two goals for a .875 success rate. The Blue Devils lead the league in man-down percentage and rank seventh nationally. Duke struggled last season in man-down situations, stopping them just 57 percent of the time.
Duke's man-down unit this season that has allowed just 16 shots. The Blue Devils have not finished a season above 69 percent in the past 15 years. The best was in the 2024 campaign at .685.

CLEAR!!!

Duke has been excellent in clearing the ball this season, getting from the defensive box to the offensive box 84 percent of the time (112-of-126). The Blue Devils' worst clearing day was 77 percent (17-of-22) against Saint Joseph's 10-man ride. It was a +16 percent improvement from the year prior. Duke has cleared over 90 percent in three of the five games.
Last season, Duke successfully cleared at least 90 percent of its opportunities in four games, finishing the season at 84 percent. The last time Duke finished a season with a 90-percent clear rate was in 2023.

Let's Ride

Duke has been very successful this season in the riding game, holding opponents to 89-of-122 in the clearing game (.730). Bellarmine struggled against the Blue Devils' ride in the season opener, clearing successfully just 60-percent of the time. The Blue Devils have held four of their five opponents to under 80 percent clearing.
Duke's opponent clearing percentage has only been below 84 percent for the season twice in the past 20 years - .711 in 2008 and .787 in 2011.

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