CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – There would be no storybook ending this time.

Just six days after rattling off six unanswered goals in the second half to upset then-No. 3 Johns Hopkins, the No. 4 seed Terrapins men’s lacrosse team struggled to find the back of the net against top-seeded Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday.

Midfielder Drew Snider and attackman Joe Cummings missed shots in the game’s waning moments that would have forced overtime, and the Terps left Klöckner Stadium with a 6-5 loss. They would never get a chance to defend their conference title.

“It’s hard to win many games scoring five goals,” coach John Tillman said.

The Terps (7-4) converted just five of 31 shot attempts and scored only three unassisted goals in settled situations.

The 11-goal total was the series’ lowest combined score in 60 years, and the Terps were limited to their lowest output since a 7-5 loss to Notre Dame in the 2010 NCAA quarterfinals. It was a major drop-off for a team that entered the contest averaging more than 11 goals per game.

“We’ve been at our best when we’ve been choosy with our choices. You know, we’ve waited for a really good shot, not the first shot,” Tillman said. “And at times, I think that we got away from that [today].”

In a physical matchup between two longtime rivals, Duke was slightly more opportunistic. It scored off the game’s opening faceoff and attackman Josh Dionne flipped one in off a scrum to give the Blue Devils a 4-3 lead with 1.2 seconds before halftime.

Outside of those goals, though, the game was mostly even. The teams took the same number of shots, and the Blue Devils narrowly edged the Terps in groundballs (27-26) and faceoffs (8-6).

Duke never led by more than two goals, and the Terps climbed within 6-5 when Cummings scored a goal with 2:09 remaining.

But the comeback fell short in the game’s closing minute. Duke goalie Dan Wigrizer stopped low shots from Snider and Cummings in the final 20 seconds, securing the Blue Devils’ fifth ACC title-game appearance in six years.

“When it’s under two and you have a one-goal lead, you know everything’s going to come down,” Wigrizer said. “They’re going to shoot. You know they’re going to shoot because they’re down and there’s limited time left. So I love playing in that.”

Wigrizer’s 10th and final save helped extend the Blue Devils’ winning streak to nine games. They have lost only once since suffering a 10-7 loss to the Terps on March 3, and appear poised for yet another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. In the past five years under coach John Danowski, Duke has never missed a national semifinal.

The Blue Devils defeated North Carolina, 12-9, in the ACC Championship game yesterday.

“I don’t think we felt like we played our best game,” Tillman said. “But if they’re as hot as any team in the country, we’re not too far behind.”

The Terps will have to wait a while for a similar gauge. Although their three remaining regular-season games include a date with No. 12 Colgate on May 5, they likely won’t face another top-10 team until the NCAA Tournament.

“We can’t let this ruin the rest of the season,” long pole Jesse Bernhardt said. “We’ve got to do our best the rest of the season, you know, finish out those few games.”

letourneau@umdbk.com