It just had to be Joe Robertson.

The senior attackman with a penchant for coming up clutch in overtime did it again Sunday, spiking the ball off the turf and into the net as he fell to the ground and sending Duke back to championship weekend with a 10-9 NCAA quarterfinal win over Loyola at Arlotta Stadium in South Bend, Ind.

“When the game’s on the line, that’s my favorite part of the game,” Robertson said. “That’s what makes it exciting. That’s why athletes compete, because you have a chance to lose.”

JOE ROBERTSON.

OVERTIME WINNER.

ABSOLUTELY CLUTCH.@DukeMLAX downs @LoyolaMLAX 10-9 in overtime to make it to the final four. pic.twitter.com/OtgI63aOZr

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 23, 2021

Robertson, who scored OT winners against North Carolina and Virginia earlier this season and against Notre Dame in the 2019 NCAA quarterfinals, opted out of a screen from Michael Sowers behind and instead took Loyola defenseman Kyle LeBlanc topside. Robertson lost his balance but got goalie Sam Shafer to drop to his knees, scoring before help arrived for LeBlanc to seal the game with 57 seconds left in overtime.

“Turn the corner and shoot — it’s the first thing we do in practice as attackmen,” Robertson said. “Turn the corner and wrap your hands around. It’s pretty much ingrained in us as attackmen. Instincts just kind of take over.”

It’s not like Loyola didn’t see Robertson coming. LeBlanc, who had not played since April 10 due to injury, warned his teammates during an overtime timeout not to leave him on an island.

“Kyle had studied the matchup well enough,” Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey said. “He said, ‘Listen, this kid’s an overtime guy. Don’t look away from my matchup.’”

Duke had also isolated LeBlanc on the first possession of overtime. Sowers beat him underneath, but defensive midfielder Matt Higgins met Sowers on the crease with a body check to dislodge the ball.

Loyola had a chance to win the game, but Blue Devils long pole Tyler Carpenter knocked down an attempted feed from behind by inverted midfielder Adam Poitras. Carpenter, who had an assist earlier in the game, came away with his fifth ground ball and cleared it to set the stage for Robertson’s heroics.

The Greyhounds, left for dead when they fell to 5-5 five weeks ago and then again when they had to pull out of the Patriot League championship game due to a false positive COVID-19 test, led 9-8 with 2:04 remaining in regulation. They scored twice in 48 seconds and went up one when Kevin Lindley caught an Evan James feed on the crease, face-dodged his defender, lunged across face of the goal and got enough on a shot to push it past Duke goalie Mike Adler.

Loyola won the ensuing faceoff, but Blue Devils defenseman Kenny Brower released from the box and knocked the ball out of Greyhounds long pole Scott Middleton’s stick. Duke’s Jake Caputo got the ground ball and sent a long pass to Sowers, who got hooked around the neck by Loyola’s Cam Wyers to prevent the goal on the doorstep.

The Blue Devils cashed in anyway, with Sowers finding Brennan O’Neill in the right alley for a sidearm lefty laser and man-up goal to knot it at 9 with 1:09 left.

It was the seventh tie of the game, one in which neither team ever led by more than two goals and each endured scoring droughts of longer than 20 minutes.

Loyola lingered within striking distance thanks largely to the play of goalie Sam Shafer, who made six saves each in the third and fourth quarter a week after preserving the Greyhounds’ first-round upset of Denver with a last-second stop. Shafer finished with 17 saves.

“The quarterfinal is the toughest game to win in the tournament,” Duke coach John Danowski said, “because of what’s on the other side.”

Danowski should know. The Blue Devils are playing in the final four for the 11th time since he took over the program in 2007. They’ll meet the winner of Sunday’s quarterfinal between Notre Dame and Maryland in the NCAA semifinals next week in East Hartford, Conn.

The attack accounted for nearly all of Duke’s offensive production. O’Neill was superb. The ACC Freshman of the Year scored a team-high four goals (on 4-for-4 shooting) and added an assist.

Robertson (three goals, one assist) and Sowers (one goal, three assists) added four points apiece, with Sowers moving past Loyola’s Pat Spencer for the No. 2 spot among the NCAA’s all-time leading scorers. His 381 career points are second only to Albany’s Lyle Thompson (400).

James led the Greyhounds with four goals and an assist.