What started as a beautiful Sunday afternoon eventually turned into a bleak day for the Virginia men’s lacrosse team, as they fell to No. 16 Duke by a score of 14-8.
Prior to the opening faceoff, 11 seniors were honored as it was the last time those players will play a regular season game in Klöckner Stadium.
“You always wish you could end it with a win,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “All of these guys are really special.”
The matchup between the Cavaliers (6-7, 0-4 ACC) and the Blue Devils (8-6, 2-2 ACC) marked the final conference contest for the two teams, and Virginia’s loss prevents the team from competing in the ACC tournament. Instead, the Cavaliers will play No. 4 Brown in the ACC-Brown showcase April 30.
Duke struck first, scoring a goal at 11:32 immediately after an impressive save by junior goalie Matt Barrett. Junior attackman Ryan Lukacovic was eager to return the favor shortly after with a goal just before the expiration of the shot clock. The Blue Devils followed suit, regaining the 2-1 lead.
Junior midfielder AJ Fish then made a valiant effort, diving across the crease to tie the game at two. Senior midfielder Greg Coholan took advantage of an assist from sophomore attackman Mike D’Amario to secure the first lead of the game for Virginia before the end of the first quarter.
Things were looking bright for the Cavaliers, as they began to take control in the second quarter. After gaining an extra man advantage, Duke tied the game back up early in the second quarter before senior attackman James Pannell added on two goals to extend Virginia’s lead to 5-3.
The Blue Devils cut into the lead in the middle of the second quarter due to an extra man opportunity. Duke added on another after another Cavalier penalty to tie the game back up at five going into the intermission.
At halftime, the 2006 Virginia lacrosse team was honored. Starsia led that team to a perfect 17-0 record capped off with an ACC and NCAA Championship.
The second half began with a pair of incredible saves by Barrett until Duke’s persistence resulted in a goal to give the Blue Devils a 6-5 lead. Duke extended its advantage to 7-5 with a goal at 10:01, but D’Amario finally put one between the pipes to cut into the Duke lead.
The Blue Devils added on another score with a goal from senior midfielder Myles Jones. Shortly after Duke added on another score, the Cavaliers added one of their own courtesy of a Coholan goal to bring the score to 9-7.
However, after the game had been tied before half, it seemed Virginia lost momentum, and the second half proved to be frustrating for the Cavaliers.
“We held them for a while, and then we kind of wore down,” senior defender Tanner Scales said. “As a team we just didn’t get it done today.”
The collapse, however, occurred in the fourth quarter for Virginia, as the team was unable to stop the Blue Devils from scoring.
There were offensive challenges as well. The Cavaliers actually outshot Duke, 47-36, but were unable to get many in the net.
“We’re generating opportunities earlier, and then we don’t get the ball in the back of the net,” Starsia said. “I think it discourages us.”
In the beginning of the fourth quarter, Duke added on another two score to extend the lead to 11-7. Junior attackman Joe French tallied the first Cavalier score of the fourth quarter to cut back into the Duke lead, but Duke senior midfielder Deemer Class added on his fourth goal of the afternoon to push the Blue Devils lead to 12-8.
Scales identified what the defense must do looking forward.
“They really came alive on the 50/50 balls in the second half,” Scales said. “A team like that who will convert on their possessions, those 50/50 balls just have to go your way, and they didn’t today for us.”
Duke’s momentum carried on with a second Jones goal, and Class added on yet another to put the score at 14-8. Sophomore goalie Will Railey took over for Matt Barrett for the final minutes of the game, and the score would remain at 14-8 as the Blue Devils ran out the clock.
“It was two ACC teams going after it. I thought it was a well-played game and a hard game,” Starsia said. “I thought we played hard throughout, but what has hurt us throughout the year is we just aren’t quite sharp enough when we need to be.”
The Cavaliers will now try to build up their resume before NCAA tournament selection comes around. Virginia will travel to Georgetown next to take on the Hoyas Saturday at 7 p.m.
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