Montgomery, who scored two crucial goals in Duke’s NCAA quarterfinal win over Johns Hopkins, managed a hat trick in the first half alone Saturday. After scoring just six goals in 16 regular season games, he has eight in three NCAA tournament games.
“It looked like we didn’t prepare early on,” Maryland coach John Tillman said during a halftime interview. “He’s a terrific player, and he made us pay.”
Despite going down big early, the Terps clawed their way back into the game, scoring five second-quarter goals and then pulling to within 8-7 when Tim Rotanz bulldozed a Blue Devils defender in transition to set up a fast-break goal with Bubba Fairman on the finishing end.
But Duke methodically put Maryland (14-3) away from there, scoring four unanswered goals while keeping Duke off the board for 20 minutes, 24 seconds.
Terps goalie Dan Morris made 14 saves in the losing cause.
The Blue Devils will play in the national championship game for the sixth time in program history, having won NCAA titles in 2010, 2013 and 2014.