FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Top-seeded Maryland’s time as defending national champions looked like it was over early in the second quarter Saturday when fourth-seeded Duke finished a run of six consecutive goals to open the teams’ NCAA tournament semifinal at Gillette Stadium.

But then the Terrapins got closer. Closer. Closer.

In other words, typical Maryland. Chipping away, lurking, giving itself a chance, applying pressure, closing within a goal.

Then Duke attackman Joe Robertson finished off a Justin Guterding feed with the timer on, sparking another run that secured a 13-8 triumph and toppling the Terps two victories shy of a second consecutive national title.

“You make a little mistake and a great player makes you pay,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “But even there at 9-7, it's like, OK, we're trading punches here, they responded, but boy, if we had gotten that one and gotten it down and gotten it tied, I felt like we might have been able to ride that.”

Saturday didn’t yield the result Maryland (14-4) aimed for when it returned to the site of its celebration last year. The Terps were sloppy (13 turnovers), a problem that denied them far too many scoring opportunities. They ultimately couldn’t find an answer for Guterding (three goals, three assists), especially in the second half.

It did reflect how Tillman has constructed his program over the last eight seasons, and provide hope a championship window isn’t closing in College Park.

“I knew we were never out of it. I knew we were going to go on a run,” said senior midfielder Connor Kelly, a Tewaaraton finalist who had a goal and three assists in his final college game. “I trusted every one of those guys on the defensive end. There's just so many great guys that I love to death. I will go to battle with any day of the week. But credit to Duke. They played a great game.”

Tillman was probably exaggerating when he said afterward no one gave his team a chance. Maryland was well-regarded coming into the year, the favorite in the Big Ten and a strong candidate to make it back to the semifinals — if not further.

But it was definitely a different Terps team. Some of the boisterous players — namely former attackmen Colin Heacock and Matt Rambo — were no longer around. Both starting short stick defensive midfielders departed. Tim Muller, the most outstanding player in last year’s tournament, left a hole on defense.

By the time the postseason arrived, it was plenty clear this team’s best wasn’t at the same level as Maryland’s previous two editions. But it was good enough to become only the second defending champ in the last nine years to reach the semifinals; Duke’s 2014 team was the other.

“We lost some amazing players, three first-teamers, some strong personalities,” Tillman said. “So there were a lot of holes to fill. We just knew we would really have to work hard and improve to go where we want to go, and certainly getting here is a tremendous accomplishment for those guys.”

It would come as little surprise if Maryland found its way back next season. Kelly, Tim Rotanz, Bryce Young and Dan Morris are among the team’s most notable losses, but four of the Terps’ top six scorers were freshmen and sophomores.

The top two faceoff men will return. So will two starting defensemen. Morris’ graduation creates a question mark, not dissimilar to the one he was forced to answer last year after Kyle Bernlohr’s graduation.

“I really feel like we have some building blocks for next year,” defenseman Curtis Corley said.

Tillman said Saturday — when the Terps matched their season low for goals scored — would not define this group. It’s hard to imagine how it could. Its senior class played on Memorial Day weekend in each season they played at Maryland, and they contributed to ending a 42-year national championship drought.

The title defense ended Saturday, two days earlier than the Terps would have preferred. But it didn’t end quietly, instead forcing Duke to put together a second spurt to bring an end to Maryland’s season.

“Maryland sets the standard for what it is to play college lacrosse,” Kelly said. “Just hard-working, resilient, and just so unselfish. I couldn't think of playing for any other program for under Coach Tills. This program is in great hands, obviously. The past couple years speak for themselves.”