Saturday night's record-breaking crowd of 8,000 began its exodus from Klöckner Stadium in the middle of the fourth quarter as the Duke men's lacrosse team prepared to hand Virginia a 19-9 defeat, the Cavaliers' worst home loss in 21 years.
Having battled back to tie the game 9-all in the middle of the third, No. 3 Virginia (10-2, 1-2 ACC) appeared stunned by the Blue Devils' subsequent 10-goal spurt. After the game, Virginia coach Dom Starsia highlighted several areas where No. 2 Duke (12-1, 3-0 ACC) excelled.
"They are so good with the ball on the ground," Starsia said. "I really felt like that's where the game was won and lost, with the ball on the ground. Also, they were just so slick around the cage, and defensively we weren't as smart as we needed to be throughout the game. They took advantage of every unsettled opportunity."
From the first face-off, the game was one of shifting momentum. Duke scored just 16 seconds in and then proceeded to quickly score two more for a total of three goals in the first five minutes.
While initially the Blue Devils appeared to be running circles around Virginia, the Cavaliers settled down midway through the first period and slowly chipped away at Duke's lead. Early in the second, senior attackman Ben Rubeor tied the game four all.
Virginia never took the lead, however, and by halftime, four quick goals by the Blue Devils -- including three by senior attackman Max Quinzani -- sent them into the locker room ahead 8-4.
In the second half, the Cavaliers battled back as five different Virginia players -- sophomore Brian Carroll, junior Steve Giannone, seniors Peter Lamade and Will Barrow and junior Garrett Billings
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