“I just had to match speed with him,” Murray said. “He’s pretty quick. But I’m pretty quick too.”

Murray, who played for the nation’s top-ranked high school team last year at Haverford (Pa.), wasn’t the only inexperienced Maryland defender who excelled. In his third career start, sophomore Michael Ehrhardt forced four turnovers. Another sophomore, converted midfielder Brian Cooper, caused two turnovers and limited Christian Walsh to one goal.

With Maryland’s stellar faceoff man Curtis Holmes winning just 9 of 20, this was the first major test for the Terps’ young defense. It passed with some help from two savvy veterans, sophomore goalie Niko Amato (14 saves), who made nine of his stops in the fourth period, and junior long-stick midfielder Jesse Bernhardt (five ground balls).

“This team has really invested a lot. They’ve heard the criticism. That’s motivated them a little bit,” Maryland coach John Tillman said of the low expectations from a team that graduated 16 players, half of them starters. “They’ve been humble. They’ve been workers. They’ve been diligent with their preparation.”

Maryland (3-0, 1-0) was led on offense by senior midfielder Drew Snider, who scored three goals on four shots, and junior attack Billy Gribbin (one goal, two assists).

With coaches and many Terrapin fans in the crowd of 4,137 wearing purple in support of the fight against pancreatic cancer, which took the life last spring of the mother of graduated attackman Ryan Young, Maryland started fast and never trailed.

Just 53 seconds into the game, Snider scored. After Holmes won the ensuing faceoff, the Terps took a 2-0 lead on a goal from second-line midfielder Kevin Cooper.

After junior attack Owen Blye scored, junior defensive midfielder Landon Carr combined with Murray on a double-team to force a turnover which led to a goal by Joe Cummings. The senior attack wheeled from behind the cage, beating All-American defender Michael Manley, to give Maryland a 4-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game, with each of the goals coming from a different player.

“Balance on offense is what we’re trying to accomplish,” Blye said. “It’s harder to guard 10 guys who score one goal than one guy who scores seven. If a bunch of guys are contributing, the defense can’t lock in.”

With the tempo slowing in the middle periods, Maryland never lost control. Each time Duke (3-2, 0-1) scored, Maryland answered. The Terps took their biggest lead, 9-3, when Gribbin scored off a feed from senior David Miller. The assist for Miller was the first point in the career of the defensive midfielder from Notre Dame Prep in Warrenton.

Duke made a fourth-quarter run behind sophomore attack Josh Dionne (three goals) and senior midfielder Justin Turri (two goals). Down 10-6 with 4:28 left, the Blue Devils had a chance to make hay as Holmes incurred a one-minute (unreleasable) penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

But Maryland killed it as sophomore Emmett Cahill blocked a pass, leading to a time-consuming scrum. Then at the end of the penalty kill, Amato made a big-time save on a strong shot by All-American Turri. Amato was key as the Terps killed three of four penalties in the period.

“They had 15 shots in the fourth quarter,” Tillman said. “Niko played great late. That really bailed us out.”

Maryland has a quick turnaround, playing Tuesday night at former-nemesis UMBC (1-2). The Terps have beaten the Retrievers the last two years after losing three straight times. It will be another test for the surprising squad.

“I think the reason guys are stepping in and doing well is that we take high tempo and a very tough mind-set to practice,” Blye said. “We preach the idea of practice like we play. You don’t have to raise your intensity for game day if you’re practicing like that every day. That’s something the older guys have preached to the younger guys.”

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