Red Hot Duke Hands No. 1 Virginia First Loss
from press release
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Duke
Blue Devils (11-3, 1-2 ACC) snapped the nation’s longest home
winning streak as they topped the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers (11-1,
2-1 ACC) on Saturday night, 13-9, in front of a capacity crowd of
8,000 fans at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia had won its
previous 15 games at home since the last time Duke came to
Charlottesville and defeated the Cavaliers on April 12, 2008,
19-9.
“There were two areas where I thought the game kind of
turned,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia.
“It was in our clearing game – there was a of lack of
poise in the clearing game and in our play at the faceoff. You
know, we won a couple of faceoffs, but their ability to put the
ball back down on the ground and pick it up themselves. I think
that was the difference overall.”
Virginia, the No. 1 team in the nation in ground balls per game,
lost the battle to the Blue Devils, 31-23. Duke also won the
faceoff game (17-8).
The Cavaliers opened up the scoring on a 3-0 run behind goals by
Shamel Bratton (13:57), George Huguely (10:44) and John Haldy
(1:55). Justin Turri put Duke on the scoreboard with 1:06
left in the first quarter, cutting the Blue Devils’ deficit
down to 3-1.
Turri opened up the second quarter scoring with a goal on the
period’s opening faceoff. The score was part of a 5-0 run by
Duke that gave the Blue Devils the 5-3 advantage. It was the
first time since the second quarter of the Towson game on March 21
that Virginia trailed. Ned Cotty, Will McKee and Max Quinzani
all scored during the run.
Chris Bocklet ended the Duke run with his score off a Steele
Stanwick pass with 10:11 left before intermission. Shamel
Bratton scored again off a dodge with 6:16 left and Stanwick capped
a 3-0 Virginia run with his unassisted goal at 1:51, giving UVa the
6-5 lead going into the break.
Duke won all six faceoffs in the third quarter to take a
commanding 9-6 lead. Crotty scored back-to-back goals for Duke,
followed by a Mike Catalino unassisted score at 6:42. Will
McKee capped the 4-0 Blue Devil run with a score via a Crotty pass
at 3:55.
Stanwick streaked in front of the cage at 1:07, taking a Brian
Carroll pass and cutting the UVa deficit to 9-7. Virginia did not
get any closer.
Duke scored three-straight goals to start the fourth quarter to
increase its advantage to five goals, 12-7. Zach Howell
scored twice and Quinzani added another during the run.
Rhamel Bratton added a score at 12:40 for Virginia, cutting the
Duke lead to 12-8. Howell tallied his third score of the game
at 9:06 on a Jake Tripucka assist to finish the Blue Devils’
scoring for the game. Bocklet added one more goal at 5:10 to
cap the game’s scoring, bringing the final tally to 13-9.
Shamel Bratton, Bocklet and Stanwick all led UVa with two goals
each. Carroll led all players with two assists, while Stanwick
added a helper for a team-high three points. Adam Ghitelman saved
11 shots in between the pipes.
Crotty and Howell led all players with three goals apiece.
Dan Wigrizer saved seven shots in goal for Duke.
Virginia returns to action on Friday against Duke in the semifinal
round of the ACC Tournament. UVa is the No. 1 seed and will
face the No. 4 seed Duke Blue Devils at 5 p.m., inside Byrd Stadium
on the University of Maryland campus, the 2010 host of the ACC
Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. All of Virginia's games at the ACC
Tournament will be broadcast in the Charlottesville area on WINA AM
1070 with John Freeman calling the action.
