Quick Take
Duke men’s lacrosse is 3-0 to start the 2026 season, the program’s first-ever campaign to open in January. Ranked No. 7 nationally, the Blue Devils are averaging 23 goals per game behind a retooled offense featuring Tewaaraton Watch List trio Benn Johnston, Charlie Johnson, and Aidan Maguire. A loaded April schedule against Cornell, Notre Dame, and UNC will define the season.
Why Is Duke Lacrosse Starting in January for the First Time?
College lacrosse has traditionally been a spring sport, with programs waiting until February to take the field. Not this year. per GoDuke.com, the 2026 Duke men’s lacrosse season marks the first time in program history the Blue Devils have opened a campaign in the month of January, hosting Bellarmine on January 31 at Koskinen Stadium. That’s a meaningful scheduling shift, not just a quirk on the calendar.
The NCAA’s decision to push opening day to January 31 across Division I men’s lacrosse gives programs more runway to develop rosters, run non-conference tune-ups, and iron out new systems before ACC play begins. For a Duke team installing a reconfigured offense and integrating several new transfers, that extra time is genuinely valuable. John Danowski called the extended preseason window a chance to build the kind of in-game chemistry that only comes from playing real minutes together.
Duke took full advantage of the early start. With five home games scheduled to open the season, the Blue Devils turned Freeman Field at Koskinen Stadium into a proving ground through February, building momentum and confidence before a road-heavy March kicks off ACC competition.
What Is Duke’s 2026 Lacrosse Schedule?
The full schedule breaks into three distinct phases. Duke opened with a five-game home stand from January 31 through March 1, facing Bellarmine, Utah, Vermont, Jacksonville, and Saint Joseph’s. All five games were played at Koskinen Stadium, giving the Blue Devils home-field advantage while they sorted out their lineup combinations. Jacksonville in particular carries tradition: this marks the 16th time in 17 seasons the two programs have squared off.
March turns things up considerably. Duke travels to Air Force on March 7 in the first-ever meeting between the programs in Colorado Springs, then returns home for Denver on March 22 before heading to Syracuse for the ACC opener on March 28. Duke split last season’s meetings with the Orange, winning in the regular season but falling to them in the ACC Championship. That Syracuse trip will carry some weight.
April is where the season gets decided. Duke’s final four regular-season games include Virginia (April 4), Cornell (April 11, neutral site on Long Island), Notre Dame (April 18), and UNC (April 25). According to GoDuke.com, Duke and Cornell haven’t met in the regular season since 2009, and the Big Red arrive as 2025 national champions. The UNC showdown on April 25 will be the 84th all-time meeting between the rivals.
| Date | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 31 | Bellarmine | Home (W, 23-8) |
| Feb. 6 | Utah | Home (W) |
| Feb. 15 | Vermont | Home (W, 22-6) |
| Feb. 21 | Jacksonville | Home |
| Mar. 1 | Saint Joseph’s | Home |
| Mar. 7 | Air Force | Away (first ever) |
| Mar. 22 | Denver | Home |
| Mar. 28 | Syracuse | Away (ACC opener) |
| Apr. 4 | Virginia | Home |
| Apr. 11 | Cornell | Neutral (Long Island) |
| Apr. 18 | Notre Dame | Home |
| Apr. 25 | North Carolina | Away |
Who Are the Key Players to Watch on the 2026 Duke Lacrosse Roster?
Three Blue Devils are already on the 2026 Tewaaraton Award Watch List: junior Benn Johnston, senior Charlie Johnson, and senior Aidan Maguire. All three were consensus preseason All-Americans. That’s the foundation this team is built around, but there’s a lot more depth in the supporting cast worth paying attention to.
Benn Johnston, Attack
Benn Johnston moved from midfield to attack this season after Danowski’s straightforward logic: if he’s your best player, put him where he can do the most damage. It’s working. Johnston finished last season with 28 goals on 102 shots, leading the team in attempts. Through three games in 2026, he already has 12 goals, bumping his per-game average from 1.56 last year to 4.00 this season. Per GoDuke.com, Johnston tallied six goals against Vermont to set a career high, including a hat trick in the first quarter. He shoots from range and he shoots hard. Goalkeepers haven’t figured out an answer yet.
Aidan Maguire, Defensive Midfielder
Aidan Maguire is widely considered the best defensive midfielder in college lacrosse right now. He’s the only current college player to compete with the U.S. men’s senior team at its fall training camp, according to USA Lacrosse Magazine. Maguire is closing in on 52 career caused turnovers, just 15 shy of moving into the top five in Duke history. He’s already part of the most productive defensive duo in Duke single-season history alongside Charlie Johnson; the two combined for 58 caused turnovers in 2025. In addition to his shutdown defensive work, Maguire has also chipped in offensively this year with a goal and an assist through two games.
Charlie Johnson, Close Defense
Charlie Johnson came out of nowhere in 2025 to earn second-team All-America honors after leading Duke with 32 caused turnovers. He’s back as a senior starter and showing no signs of slowing down. Johnson leads the team in ground balls through three games in 2026, picking up seven against Vermont alone. His ability to generate turnovers and immediately create transition opportunities is part of what makes Duke’s defense so dangerous when it’s operating at full capacity.
Kyle Colsey, Redshirt Freshman, Attack
Kyle Colsey transferred from Virginia and missed all of 2025 recovering from a knee injury. He’s been one of the most pleasant surprises of the early season. After nine goals and five assists across his first three college games, his 14 points rank third most by a Duke freshman in the past 20 years. Per GoDuke.com, Colsey earned USILA Team of the Week honors after his six-goal, two-assist performance against Vermont. The Ridgefield, Connecticut native has at least two points in every game this season. Together with fellow freshmen Michael Ortlieb and Brady Scioletti, Colsey is part of a trio that has combined for 31 points and accounts for 34 percent of Duke’s scoring in 2026.
Max Sloat, Attack
Max Sloat opened the season the right way. The senior scored five goals and an assist in the opening win over Bellarmine and leads the team with eight points through the first two games of the season. Sloat, who played midfield earlier in his career, slid to attack where his size and left-handed shot create problems for most defenses. His partnership with Johnston and Colsey gives Duke a multi-dimensional front line that very few programs can match.
Patrick Jameison, Goalkeeper
Patrick Jameison enters his third year as Duke’s starting goalkeeper with the kind of experience most teams at this level would pay for. He spent last summer training with the U.S. U20 team in Korea and returned to Durham with more shot work than any Duke goalie has seen in a single offseason, thanks to a new practice setup Danowski described as the “Goalie Lab.” Jameison is 156 saves away from moving into the top five in Duke career history. His ability to anchor the back line and read the offense is what allows Maguire and Johnson to play aggressively in the field.
How Has Duke Lacrosse Started the 2026 Season?
Three games in, No. 7 Duke is exactly where it wanted to be: unbeaten, high-scoring, and showing defensive dominance. The Blue Devils opened January 31 with a 23-8 win over Bellarmine, firing 58 shots in the process. Max Sloat’s five first-quarter goals and Benn Johnston’s four in his debut at attack set the tone early. Seventeen players made their Duke debut in that game, including nine true freshmen.
Duke followed it up with a win over Utah on February 6, then dismantled Vermont 22-6 on February 15 in the most impressive showing of the young season. Johnston and Colsey each posted six goals in the Vermont win, both setting career highs. The Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run spanning the second and third quarters, holding Vermont scoreless for 27 minutes and 50 seconds. Duke’s defense has allowed just 15 total goals across the first three games, holding opponents to 17 percent shooting against Vermont. Faceoff junior Cal Girard is winning 69.4 percent of draws, the best rate in the ACC and seventh nationally.
Head coach John Danowski sits at 486 career wins, just 14 away from becoming the first Division I men’s lacrosse coach in NCAA history to reach 500. If Duke plays 14 games this season, he could reach that milestone before the postseason even begins.
What Are the Biggest Storylines for Duke Men’s Lacrosse in 2026?
The offense is in transition. Graduate transfer Eric Malever, who led Duke with 34 goals and assists in 2025, is gone. So is Andrew McAdorey, who drove the midfield. The Blue Devils are replacing two of their most productive players from a team that went 12-6, and the early results suggest the new pieces are more than capable of filling those roles. Johnston’s positional shift to attack is the most interesting tactical development; freeing up his scoring from a more central position rather than running him in and out on midfield lines is already producing results.
The ACC is brutally competitive. Every team in the five-team conference appeared in the preseason top 20, which means there is no soft conference matchup on the schedule. Duke’s 1-3 conference record in 2025 contributed to an early tournament exit, and Danowski knows what ACC play means for the postseason picture. The regular-season stretch from late March through late April will go a long way toward deciding whether Duke makes a run at the NCAA title or exits early again.
The Cornell matchup on April 11 deserves its own attention. The Big Red are the defending national champions and Duke hasn’t played them in the regular season since 2009. Duke holds a 4-6 all-time record against Cornell. That game, on a neutral site on Long Island, will be a direct measuring stick against the best team in the country.
Can Duke Men’s Lacrosse Compete for a National Championship in 2026?
The ingredients are there. Three Tewaaraton Watch List players, a defense that’s allowing fewer than five goals per game through three contests, a faceoff specialist winning nearly 70 percent of his draws, and a freshman class accounting for a third of the team’s scoring. That’s the profile of a team that can go deep in May.
The Chronicle’s 2025 season analysis put it plainly: when Duke has excelled in ACC play, it has gone to the Final Four or won a national title. The two seasons with mediocre conference records led to early exits. Conference play starts March 28 at Syracuse. That game is the clearest early signal of whether this team has taken a step forward from last year’s 12-6 finish.
Duke has won three national championships under Danowski, the last coming in 2014. The 2023 team reached the title game. This roster has the balance, the experience in key spots, and the youth to complement it. If the offense continues finding rhythm as Colsey and Ortlieb grow into their roles, and if Jameison stays locked in as one of the better goalies in the ACC, Duke is a legitimate national title contender in 2026.
