DURHAM, N.C - Duke senior midfielder Terrence Keaney picked the right time to score his first two goals of the game. With two minutes and 12 seconds remaining in the ACC men's lacrosse championship, Keaney fired accurately past Virginia goalie Tillman Johnson to tie the game at 13 goals apiece. Then, with 39 seconds left, Kearney suddenly sprinted forward from his perch behind the Virginia net. Avoiding contact from the Virginia defense, he dove and slipped his shot past Johnson to give Duke the 14-13 victory and the ACC tournament championship in Duke's Koskinen Stadium yesterday.
For No. 12 Duke (7-5, 3-2 ACC), it was their second consecutive ACC championship. No. 1 Virginia (9-2, 4-1) failed to complete their undefeated run through the conference after finishing the regular season with a 3-0 record.
In the early going, it appeared Duke was sufficiently pleased just to be appearing in the tournament final as their lack of intensity and Virginia's hunger on offense led to a 4-1 Cavalier lead before most of the fans had even settled into their seats. Midfielder Billy Glading led the early charge, scooping a loose ball past Duke goaltender A.J. Kincel and then one-timing a pass from junior attacker A.J. Shannon for Virginia's first two goals.
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The ease with which the Cavaliers scored early would not be indicative of the way this game would finish. Eventual tournament MVP Kincel would make 15 saves, including five clutch stops in the final quarter of play.
"Duke's defense just tightened up a little more," Shannon said. "They were making some nice plays. Kincel had some big saves in the game. Duke's defense tightened up when it had to and shut us down."
Kincel's saves and Duke's suddenly awakened offense would generate a rapid comeback for the Blue Devils. Though Duke did not earn its first lead of the game until taking a 11-10 edge in the closing seconds of the third quarter, they would never trail by more than two goals after tying the game at six. Duke's top performer on offense was senior Jimmy Regan who scored four goals and a career-high five points.
After Friday's semi-final game in which Johnson made 13 saves en route to a 10-3 win over North Carolina, on Sunday Johnson made 12 more saves but was not the impenetrable wall from the previous game.
"I actually thought in the first half they were scoring off the shots we wanted them to take," coach Dom Starsia said. "Tillman usually impacts a game more than he did today."
Virginia's usually stingy defense did not give Johnson their normal amount of help. Senior defenseman Mark Koontz would leave the game in the first quarter after re-injuring his left knee - he fell awkwardly to the ground as Duke attackman Alex Lieske netted the first of his three goals. Koontz has been playing with a torn ACL but still managed to lead the team with seven groundballs Friday.
"It was very unsettling to see [Koontz's injury] happen, but it's not a suitable excuse for our defense," Starsia said. "Losing Mark was a blow but shouldn't have made that much of a difference. We still had three guys on defense with experience."
The defense, though, was not Virginia's only unit to contribute a subpar performance. Virginia's offense also looked shaky and tentative at times. Freshman John Christmas scored three goals and added an assist, but the squad as a whole was slowed in the second half, scoring only five goals on 19 shots instead of eight goals on 17 shots in the first half.
"It was a very disappointing result for our team," Starsia said. "We seemed to struggle to make plays. I thought we were tentative."
Losing its own conference championship is certainly a setback for this top-ranked Cavalier team but in no way precludes them from continuing their run toward the national title.
"I'm obviously disappointed in the outcome," senior attackman Conor Gill said. "The team played terribly. I could almost see this coming. We haven't been as sharp the past few weeks, but I think in the long run today is going to be good for us"
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