Quinzani's Late Goal Lifts Duke over Virginia
by Paul Ohanian | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
NCAA DIVISION I SEMIFINALS: DUKE 14, VIRGINIA 13
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* Quinzani's Late Goal Lifts Duke over UVA |
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BALTIMORE, Md. -- The NCAA will crown a first-time champion in Division I men’s lacrosse on Monday.
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Duke attackman Max Quinzani celebrates his game-winning goal with 12 seconds remaining in the Blue Devils' 14-13 victory over Virginia in the NCAA Division I semifinals Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com |
Duke (15-4) made sure of that by rebounding from a two-goal
halftime deficit to claim a 14-13 victory over top-seeded Virginia
(16-2) in the second semifinal Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Blue Devils will face unseeded Notre Dame, a 12-7 winner over
Cornell in the other semifinal, in Monday’s championship
game.
Trailing 7-5 at halftime, Duke’s dynamic offense -- ranked
second in the nation in scoring -- finally starting clicking behind
the dynamic duo of Ned Crotty and Max Quinzani. After surrendering
the opening goal of the half to fall behind by three,
Quinzani’s unassisted tally at 8:59 sparked a seven-goal
comeback run by the Devils.
“We were disappointed in our first half, especially our
inability to clear the ball,” said Duke head coach John
Danowski. “I thought Max’s goal gave us a lot of
enthusiasm.”
Quinzani scored three of his team-high four goals during
Duke’s pivotal run and helped the Blue Devils carry a 9-8
lead -- their first advantage of the game -- into the fourth
quarter. By the time Quinzani capped the run, beating Virginia
goalie Adam Ghitelman (eight saves) one-on-one in transition
following an assist from Mike Catalino, the Devils had their
largest lead at 12-8 with 12:11 remaining.
But Virginia did not go away.
Sparked by two goals and an assist on a third by midfielder Brian
Carroll, the Cavs outscored Duke 5-1 over the next nine minutes to
even the score at 13-13. Carroll’s third goal of the game,
unassisted at 1:21, knotted the score for the fourth time.
“I’m really proud of our team,” said Virginia
head coach Dom Starsia. “We had a chance to roll over and
didn’t. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Following Virginia’s game-tying tally, Duke controlled the
faceoff and called timeout to organize its possession. Crotty took
the ball behind the cage and played a cat-and-mouse game with
Ghitelman and UVA defenseman Ken Clausen.
Crotty eventually curled around the net to the left, and then
found a cutting Quinzani in front, who buried the game-winner on an
eight-yard blast with 12 seconds remaining. The goal was the
senior’s 68th of the season, establishing a new Duke
single-season record.
“I was trying to survey the field,” Crotty said.
“He’s small, but I saw him coming off the pick. I threw
it, he caught it and he scored.”
“I tell him all the time that if you throw it, at least you
know I’m going to catch it,” said Quinzani.
“Something good is going to happen.”
Virginia had one final chance following a turnover by Duke on the
ensuing faceoff. Coming out of a timeout, Carroll started with the
ball on his stick in the defensive zone and headed upfield. Not
recognizing that Virginia already had six men on the offensive end
of the field, he carried the ball over the midfield line and was
called for an offsides violation.
Two seconds later, Duke’s celebration was underway.
“The final result wasn’t what we hoped for, but it
doesn’t diminish who these guys are and what they battled
through,” said Starsia, referring to the emotional hardship
of the past several weeks in Charlottesville surrounding the death
of Virginia women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love. Men's lacrosse
player George Huguely faces first-degree murder charges. “In
the end, it would have been so much easier if we had
won.”
“It’s been pretty difficult over the last
month,” said Virginia sophomore Steele Stanwick (3g, 2a).
“I’m not going to lie to you. The season may be over,
but we’re still a team.”
Notes: Quinzani extended his scoring streak to
65-straight games with at least one point…Duke controlled 19
of 30 face offs in the game, led by senior Sam Payton, who won 15
of 23 draws… Freshman goalie Dan Wigrizer finished with
seven saves for Duke…Sophomore Chris Bocklet led the
Cavaliers with a team-high four goals…The Blue Devils have
won nine of the last 10 meetings between the teams…The
announced attendance of 44,389 was the sixth largest for an NCAA
semifinal doubleheader.
