DURHAM, N.C.-The ACC standings told the story for the Virginia men's lacrosse team before Saturday's game at No. 15 Duke. Win the game and claim the top seed in next weekend's ACC tournament. Lose and fall all the way to the fourth seed.
Even the added motivation of moving from the ACC cellar to the penthouse couldn't rescue the No. 9 Cavaliers (5-5, 1-2 ACC) on Saturday. Duke's Mack Hardaker scored with 12 seconds remaining in the game to lead the Blue Devils (8-4, 2-1) to a 10-9 victory that further blurred the tournament picture in the wild ACC.
"Coaches probably say this a lot of different years, but this year it's really hard to tell who the best team is in the conference," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "We went from No. 1 to No. 4 with a one-goal loss."
Virginia appeared to be in good shape after sophomore midfielder Chris Rotelli scored with 5 minutes, 18 seconds remaining to tie the game at 8-8. However, Duke senior midfielder Scott Bross, who came into the game with no career goals, won the ensuing face-off and immediately beat Virginia goalkeeper Tillman Johnson to regain the lead.
Rotelli scored again with 3:02 remaining to tie the game at 9-9. However, the Blue Devils worked the clock and set the stage for Hardaker's game-winning goal.
Virginia had a chance to tie once again, but Duke goalkeeper Matt Breslin stopped a desperation shot from Cav midfielder Brett Wagner.
"We had chances to win the game, but we made too many mistakes," Starsia said. "We made some unforced errors that gave the game back to Duke."
Virginia led by as many as three goals early on, but the Cavaliers made defensive lapses that allowed the Blue Devils to tie, 5-5, early in the second half.
Virginia took a 7-5 lead on goals by Wagner and Ian Shure. However, the Cavaliers could not to put Duke away, and Kevin Cassese, Chris Hartofilis and Kevin Brennan scored to give the Blue Devils the lead.
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"It always helps to get a bigger lead," Rotelli said. "Duke is a team that will play hard the whole game. In the fourth quarter, anyone could have won it, and they scored the last goal."
"Neither team is real explosive on offense, both teams are big and strong and solid defensively, both have good goalies," Starsia said. "That game was going to be played close to the vest."
Rotelli led Virginia with four goals, and Conor Gill added two.
Brennan led Duke with four goals, and Hartofilis scored two. Cassese had one goal and two assists.
The Cavaliers now shift their focus to the ACC tournament, where their first-round opponent will be top-seeded Maryland, a 7-2 upset victim to Virginia earlier this season.
"It's a weird season," Rotelli said. "It seems like everybody is beating everybody in lacrosse this year. With four teams in the ACC tournament, it really doesn't matter what seed you are. If you want to win it, you have to win two games"
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