In each of the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team’s first three games, including an eight-goal victory at then-top-ranked Syracuse on Feb. 22, it relied on substantial contributions from a talented freshman class.

Attackman Matt Rambo had six points — the most in a Terps debut since 2004 — in his debut against Mount St. Mary’s. A week later, he scored three times against UMBC. Midfielder Connor Cannizzaro scored six times in his first three games.

But in the No. 2 Terps’ last-ever regular-season ACC matchup with No. 1 Duke, the young team turned to its experienced leaders. And behind five goals from midfielder Mike Chanenchuk and 17 saves from goalkeeper Niko Amato — both are seniors — the Terps earned a 10-6 win over the Blue Devils before an announced 5,055 at Byrd Stadium.

“The good thing about this team is that each week, it’s hopefully somebody different,” coach John Tillman said. “But there are obviously going to be constants.”

The first half was a back-and-forth 30 minutes that featured three lead changes. Blue Devils attackman Jordan Wolf opened the scoring just over four minutes into the contest after an interference penalty on midfielder Nick Manis gave Duke a 30-second extra-man opportunity.

Chanenchuk helped swing the momentum back in the Terps’ favor, though, finishing back-to-back right-handed goals in the next two minutes to give the Terps a 2-1 advantage. After several possessions, the Blue Devils tied the game with 3:20 left in the quarter on a defensive lapse that allowed attackman Josh Dionne to cut back door and score off a feed from Wolf.

The Terps took a 3-2 lead 45 seconds into the second quarter after referees whistled Blue Devils faceoff specialist Brendan Fowler for a push with possession on faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa. Attackman Jay Carlson capitalized on the 30-second penalty, picking up a ground ball behind the net, dodging to his right and scoring on a bounce shot while falling down.

The Blue Devils went on to score three unanswered goals over about the next seven minutes, including two from attackman Case Matheis. Attackman Colin Heacock stopped the Terps scoring drought with 4:40 left in the half, though, on a left-handed rip from about 10 yards in front of the cage. Chanenchuk and Rambo added goals in the final 3:11 to give the Terps a 6-5 lead at the half.

“When you have two great teams who put a lot of effort in week in and week out, all-year preparation, that’s what you’re going to get,” Amato said. “You’re going to get two teams that are just battling constantly. You know they’ve got talented players across the board. We’ve got talented players across the board. And throughout that game, a lot of players made a lot of plays for both teams.”

After both teams failed to score in the first 11 minutes of the third quarter, Chanenchuk found the back of the net twice in less than two minutes to extend the Terps lead to 8-5. Raffa took the ensuing faceoff all the way to the cage for his third goal of the season. The teams traded goals during the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Terps held on for the victory.

“I expect to get a lot of shots every game,” said Chanenchuk, whose five goals tied a career high. “And with other guys having success last week, I think they were maybe keying in on Connor and Matt a little bit. So it opened for me to get some open looks.”

Tillman said the key to Saturday’s victory, though, was Amato, who kept the Terps in the contest with 10 saves in the first half.

For the second straight week against a top-ranked opponent, Amato raised his level of play on the big stage. And when the Terps’ younger players were neutralized, Amato and Chanenchuk provided a lift.

“You come out against Duke, a big-time game, a big-time atmosphere, the crowd is electric,” Amato said. “And you just come out with that extra bounce.”

[ READ MORE: MLAX: Terps vs Duke ]