The Virginia lacrosse team left Kenan Stadium Sunday afternoon with an empty feeling — yet another conference loss — the third time this season. With their 16-8 loss to No. 11 North Carolina, the Cavaliers (6-6, 0-3 ACC) dropped out of the national rankings and returned to a .500 record.
Virginia has a chance to earn its first conference victory when No. 16 Duke visits Klöckner Stadium Sunday afternoon. The Blue Devils (7-6, 1-2 ACC) are coming off two straight losses to conference opponents. The contest between Duke and Virginia will mark the last ACC game for both of the conference rivals.
The two teams have a storied history, and Duke coach John Danowski has a 14-1 record against Virginia since taking the job in 2006.
“I’m not obsessed about [the streak against Duke],” coach Dom Starsia said. “But we need to turn it around, and this would be a great place to start.”
The Blue Devils and the Cavaliers have shared many opponents this season, both out of conference and in conference. Earlier this season, Duke defeated then-No. 13 Loyola by a score of 15-6 in Baltimore before going on to defeat Georgetown, who Virginia will play next. The Blue Devils also suffered a 12-10 defeat at the hands of Richmond, who the Cavaliers were able to shut out just two weeks ago.
Duke did capture an overtime win over conference rival No. 9 Syracuse, who defeated Virginia by a small margin of 14-13 in the team’s ACC opener, which helped propel them to their national ranking.
“They play confidently,” Coholan said. “They have big midfielders and good attackmen, and are always a great team. You always have to play great against them.”
Sophomore attackman Justin Guterding leads the Blue Devils in scoring with 53 points, and senior midfielder Myles Jones follows close behind with 52. Junior Danny Fowler has been starting in goal for Duke and is stopping 49.6 percent of the shots he sees between the pipes.
The Cavaliers went on a three-game winning streak, their best of the season, before dropping last weekend’s contest against the Tar Heels. The 16-8 loss leaves the Virginia defense, which shut out Richmond just the week before, looking for answers. One of those key defensive players is junior long stick midfielder Michael Howard, who has been consistently picking up ground balls for the Cavaliers this season.
“On defense, we’ve been trying to evolve each week,” Howard said. “We’re trying to work on the stuff that we did well two weeks ago, but maybe not last week, and tweak it.”
With just two games remaining in the regular season, Virginia and Duke are both vying for NCAA tournament bids. The Cavaliers will be trying to put themselves in a better position come selection time, and will try to do so with the help of senior attackman James Pannell, who leads the team with 34 points.
“I believe firmly that if we just win these next couple of games, we will be a playoff team,” Starsia said. “I’m not seeing a bunch of teams that we can’t beat. The question is, will we have an opportunity to play some of these teams again, and we’ll have to earn that.”
Perhaps some special spectators will inspire this year’s Virginia team, as the 2006 National Championship team will be in attendance Sunday afternoon. The team of Cavaliers that included eight All-Americans and earned a perfect 17-0 record to capture the NCAA title 10 years ago will be honored at the game. At least, that team inspired senior midfielder Greg Coholan at a young age.
“I remember specifically watching the [2006 National] Championship, and I loved the way Kyle Dixon played, who was just a monster in the midfield,” Coholan said. “I was pretty young, but I’m pretty sure I was mimicking a lot of those guys in my backyard.”
Coholan is just one of the Virginia seniors who will be recognized at Sunday’s game for senior day, with the contest being the last at Klöckner for the regular season. Faceoff is set for 12 p.m.
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