DURHAM, N.C. -- The Virginia women's lacrosse team had plenty of opportunities to fold against an undefeated Duke team playing at home. At the end of the day, though, the No. 2 Blue Devils' perfect record received its first blemish of the season as the Cavaliers won an 11-10 thriller.
Few teams in the country have a level of talent similar to Virginia, but Duke's squad features prominently among them. The Cavalier defense encountered some trouble with the Blue Devils' talented attackers and gave up six first-half goals. In addition, the Virginia offense that has produced over 16 goals in their last three games had difficulties penetrating the Blue Devil defense early on, with many costly turnovers stalling Cavalier possessions.
Duke struck first with a Katie Chrest goal just over a minute into the game, and Michelle Menser added another at 3:31 to give the Blue Devils an early 2-0 lead. The Virginia offense woke up at the 8:30 mark and responded with a Tyler Leachman goal. Senior attack Nikki Lieb added another shortly after to pull the score even at 2-2. Virginia struck again only two minutes later, as freshman attack Blair Weymouth put the Cavaliers ahead with the first of her three goals of the game.
The Virginia lead was short-lived, however, as Duke rallied back with a three-goal outburst to take a 5-3 lead.
Taking stock of their situation, the Virginia defense realized they would need to play at a much higher level to knock off the vaunted Blue Devils.
"Our defense just came together and said, 'You know, that's just not going to happen,'" senior goalkeeper Ginger Miles said. "We're going to fight back and win this game."
The tide of the game turned roughly 10 minutes into the second half. Down 8-6, Blair Weymouth found Whitaker Hagerman for the team's seventh goal and touched off a four-goal Cavalier rally that left the Duke faithful wondering what had just happened.
"We collectively just came together," senior midfielder Kim Connors said. "We weren't communicating well enough, we weren't getting our matchups effectively, initially. I think we just adjusted by becoming more organized with better communication and being more aggressive."
The defense became much more effective as the game went on. In addition to superb efforts from the line defenders, who held defending Tewaaraton trophy winner Chrest to just one second-half point, Miles played a sensational game down the stretch, finishing the game with 12 saves. With the pressure on, Miles rose to the occasion, saving the game for the Cavaliers with a point-blank save in the final minutes that salted away the victory for Virginia.
"When [the shot] came down it was kind of scary, but I was like, 'Let me have it, take your best shot," Miles said.
The win against Duke places Virginia squarely in the middle of the race for the regular season ACC title and the top seed in the ACC tournament. Virginia now stands at 10-2 on the season, including a 3-1 ACC record that puts them in a three-way tie for first place with Duke and North Carolina. Virginia's only remaining ACC contest is against cellar-dweller Virginia Tech, leaving the Cavaliers with an excellent chance to capture the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.
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