© 2026 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.
Opening day of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse season is Jan. 31.
Throughout the month of January, we'll pose three burning questions for each team ranked in the USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Preseason Top 20, presented by CWENCH Hydration, starting with No. 20 Michigan and finishing with No. 1 Maryland.
Join the conversation on social media @USALMag (IG/X/FB). Wrong answers only.
Duke won’t necessarily be young in 2026, but new is a theme that has resonated during the preseason. The Blue Devils have new personnel, new approaches and potentially some new positions.
Duke went 12-6 last season, but the season could have flipped the script in either direction given the number of close games. How great would the season have been if they had won their three one-goal losses? But what if they had lost the three overtime games they won?
To get back to championship weekend for the first time since 2023, head coach John Danowski is looking at everything.
“We’re trying to recognize the strengths and the weaknesses of the kids, not just lacrosse-wise, but their ability to concentrate their ability to retain information,” Danowski said. “We’re trying not to overload them, yet trying to prepare them. When we talk to them for extended periods of time, how much do they really pick up? When we coach, what are the points we can get done in 7-10 seconds? We have bright kids, but they’re growing up in a different way.”
In the modern era of college lacrosse, attack and midfield has become interchangeable for many teams. That’s true, but the attack could start with freshman Michael Ortleib running the show from X. The highly-touted rookie from Malvern Prep (Pa.) has been as good as advertised. If he locks down the role, he might be joined on the attack line by a pair of All-America caliber players in Benn Johnston and Max Sloat, both of whom played midfield last year.
“We experimented a little bit with Benn Johnston playing attack under the heading of, 'If he's one of your best players, why keep him on the bench?’” Danowski said. “Max was an attackman in high school and gives us a big lefty presence.”
If those moves happen, then Liam Kershis likely moves to midfield after putting up 22 points as a freshman. Danowski said he’s a natural matchup problem. The midfield also has experience in veterans like Tomas Delgado and Jack Pappendick, but this is an area where some young players can make a difference, including freshmen Anthony Drago and Brady Scioletti.
Duke’s offense will also likely be impacted by some transfers. Virginia transfer Kyle Colsey was still limited in the fall coming back from a knee injury, but he has tremendous talent and will be joined by another former Cavalier, grad transfer Thomas Mencke, who had 14 goals as a part-time starter in the midfield. Harvard grad transfer Owen Gaffney also scored 14 goals as a midfielder last season.
We experimented a little bit with Benn Johnston playing attack under the heading of, 'If he's one of your best players, why keep him on the bench?’
John Danowski
Duke’s offense does not begin and end with the attack and midfielders. The Blue Devils have two of the country’s more dynamic specialists in SSDM Aidan Maguire and LSM Ben Christmas.
Maguire, the only current college player to compete with the U.S. men’s senior team at its fall training camp, can do a little bit of everything with his raw athleticism. He had 10 points (6G, 4A), 57 ground balls and 26 causes turnovers.
The 6-foot-4 Christmas had eight goals last year, breaking C.J. Costabile’s school record of seven for an LSM.
Even if they don’t score right away, Danowski had no hesitancy in keeping them on the field to help generate early offense by creating matchup problems.
Patrick Jameison enters his third year as Duke’s starting goalie and gained valuable experience with the U.S. U20 team in Korea last summer. That’s not the only experience he’s added since last spring.
“When they redid our fields, they created like this little bit of dead space tucked away that we call the ‘Goalie Lab,’” Danowski said. “We have two creases, a big backstop and we have five goalies that we rotate in and out. Patrick and the other goalies saw more shots this fall than any goalie at Duke has ever seen.”
Firing many of the shots were three pretty good players from last year’s team — Andrew McAdorey, Keith Boyer and Jack Gray — all working as student assistants while attending grad school at Duke’s Fuqua School.
Jameison has been over 53 percent on saves in each of his first two seasons and ranked in the top 20 nationally allowing fewer than 10 goals per game. With an experienced defense in front of him, this could be an ever bigger year for a player that earned All-ACC recognition a year ago.
After seeing limited minutes his first two seasons, Charlie Johnson came out of nowhere to earn second-team All-America honors at close defense after leading the Blue Devils with 32 caused turnovers. Senior Henry Bard is also back as a veteran starter, and Nikolas Melendez came on nicely as a freshman after missing the first part of the season with an injury.
Much like Duke’s offensive situation, there is plenty of versatility with players able to move from close to LSM. Junior Jack Kiefer and freshman Will Pedicano are among the group looking to break through into key roles.
Brian Logue has worked at USA Lacrosse since 2000 and is currently the senior director of communications. He saw his first lacrosse game in 1987 - Virginia at Delaware - and fell in love with the sport while working at Washington and Lee University.
