With only 20 seconds remaining in regulation time, the Duke Blue Devils scored the game-winning goal and, for the second year in a row, the Virginia men's club hockey team had its hopes for an ACCHL tournament victory snatched away.
The tournament took place over the weekend at Charlottesville Ice Park, with six teams competing: Duke, Virginia, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and George Mason. The semi-final games took place Saturday, with Virginia defeating Georgetown and Duke beating Virginia Tech in overtime to qualify for Sunday morning's final.
Although Virginia went into the tournament as the No. 2 seed behind Duke, the Cavaliers had high hopes of emerging number one.
"We work hard all year, and we kind of expect to be there because we have been to the championship game three times in the last four years," coach Rob Boyle said. "I really felt for our fourth years, but you learn from the loss and start planning for next year. We have learned what it takes to get to the finals, now we just have to learn what it takes to get over that hump and win."
In the beginning, it looked as if the game might turn out differently; the Blue Devils had to surmount a 3-0 deficit in the first period to come back with the win. Within the first minute of play, one of Virginia's captains, Danny Miller, shot and scored. Duke had an opportunity to tie it up with a penalty shot, but Virginia's goalie blocked Blue Devil Wilson Korel from putting the puck in the net.
During a two-minute Duke penalty, the Cavaliers utilized the one man advantage -- junior Alex Bronson scored in the sixth minute, quickly making it a 2-0 game. Then, just three minutes later, Virginia increased their lead to 3-0 with another goal.
"We showed in the beginning that we could dominate the five-on-five play," Martyak said. "But in the end, Duke earned the Championship."
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, all of their scoring took place in the first 10 minutes of the game. The remainder of the game consisted of a relentless effort by Duke to even the score. By the end of the first period, Virginia only led by one. Duke had scored in the 13th minute of the period and again with only 46 seconds remaining.
In the second period, two Cavaliers, Robbie Kelso and Bronson, each incurred two minute penalties. Their time in the box overlapped by one minute, and it was in the final second of this two-man advantage that Duke scored the tying goal.
"When you get called on a large number of penalties it taxes the players," Boyle said. "They have to work a little harder to kill them off, and it disrupts the whole rhythm."
The third period was a dogfight, with numerous scoring opportunities on both sides. With the score deadlocked, it appeared that the game would go into overtime. Duke's last breakaway, however, turned into a one-on-one showdown with Virginia's goalie -- who was ultimately unable to prevent the winning goal.
"I know it was an extremely disappointing loss that we will replay in our heads," Martyak said. "But every single person poured their time, energy and heart into this team and what more can you ask for? I wore the C but everyone stepped up this year as a leader on the team."
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