The fifth-seeded Virginia women’s lacrosse team was defeated by the fourth-seeded Duke, 9-8, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
A slow start proved to be costly for the Cavaliers (9-8, 3-4 ACC), who trailed 5-1 with under four minutes remaining in the first half. Virginia fought back to cut the Blue Devils’ (10-7, 4-3 ACC) lead to just one goal on two occasions in the second half, but a strong Duke defense led by first team All-ACC senior goalie Kelsey Duryea prevented Virginia from completing the rally.
Junior attacker Posey Valis led the Cavaliers in scoring with four goals. Attackers senior Kelly Boyd and junior Kelly Reese also scored two goals each in the defeat.
Virginia outshot Duke, 21-17. The Blue Devils held the edge in draw controls, 12-7.
Duke scored the first goal of the game at the 26:22 mark of the first half. After a Boyd goal on a Valis assist tied the score with 19:19 remaining in the first half, the Blue Devils went on an offensive run and scored four straight times over 15 minutes to take their largest lead of the game at 5-1. Two consecutive goals by the Cavaliers in the final 3:30 of the half made the halftime score 5-3 in favor of Blue Devils.
The second half was back and forth to start, as Duke and Virginia traded three goals one after the other to make the score 8-6 in favor of Duke with 13:19 left to play. Valis then scored on an assist from senior midfielder Mary Alati to pull the Cavaliers within one goal with 12:24 remaining. But the Blue Devils responded just under seven minutes later with a goal at the 5:26 mark to increase the lead to 9-7. Valis scored again with 12 seconds left to bring the deficit to just one, but Duke was able to hang on for the 9-8 victory.
The loss eliminates Virginia from the ACC Tournament, and the team will now wait to see their draw in the NCAA Tournament starting May 13. Duke will next face first-seeded North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals Friday. The Tar Heels defeated eighth seeded Virginia Tech 19-6 earlier in the day.
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