The No. 8 Virginia women's lacrosse team faltered at home against conference rival Duke Saturday. After falling behind the No. 3-ranked Blue Devils by as many as four goals during the first half, the Cavaliers mounted a furious comeback, but the rally proved to be too little too late in an 11-8 loss.
The Cavaliers (5-4, 0-3 ACC) attacked the cage feverishly to even the score at 6-6 eight minutes into the final period. A goal by Duke junior midfielder Kat Thomas shortly thereafter halted Virginia's momentum, however, and the Blue Devils (8-1, 2-1 ACC) scored four more times to avoid another letdown.
There are no moral victories for a team still seeking its first ACC victory with the conference tournament less than a month away, but the Cavaliers still took solace in the effectiveness of their game plan against Duke.
"We had moments where it looked like [our strategy] was going to work," coach Julie Myers said. "I think we just kind of fell off of it a little bit. We needed to nail our shots at the end, and we just came out without the goals."
Facing an explosive Duke attack that featured three players with at least 20 goals and two with more than 40 points, the Cavaliers relied heavily on their own offense to maintain possession and limit Duke's ability to create scoring opportunities. Duke's two biggest attacking threats, redshirt junior attacker Emma Hamm and senior attacker Christie Kaestner, entered the game with a team-leading 27 goals and 25 assists, respectively, but the Cavaliers completely shut down Hamm Saturday.
The Cavaliers were successful in dominating possession as they won the ground ball battle 17-14, nearly matched Duke in draw controls, 11-10 and held the ball in the attacking end for long stretches of time. Defensive deficiencies, however, overshadowed Virginia's offensive success.
"[A] lack of concentration on the defensive end and careless turnovers killed our team morale," senior defender Liz Downs, who led the Cavaliers with three draw controls, said.
Ultimately, the Cavaliers were done in by defensive lapses that allowed the Blue Devils to run free and get repeated open looks at the net. Sophomore goalie Kim Kolarik stopped nine shots to keep her team in the game, but the Blue Devils broke through when they scored three goals during a five-minute span after the Cavaliers had tied the score in the second half.
When freshman defender Taylor Virden's shot ricocheted off the post and past Kolarik to put Duke up 8-6, the Cavaliers appeared deflated, and on the next play, a long outlet pass by the Blue Devils' junior goalie Mollie Mackler ignited a sudden counterattack that culminated in Kaestner's decisive goal.
While Thomas carried the Blue Devils offensively with four goals, Virginia leaned on junior attacker Josie Owen, who scored three goals and also contributed an assist. Owen started the Cavaliers' comeback after halftime when she made the score 6-4 after junior attacker Julie Gardner's free position shot was saved but the ball remained in Duke's defensive end.
"I think we frustrated Duke in the first half," Owen said. "We held onto the ball a little longer so they came at us in the second half ... We had a little more momentum, and we got the green light to go to goal from our coaches."
Although the loss kept Virginia winless against ACC squads, the team remains confident that it is closing in on the conference's elite after suffering narrow losses to No. 3 Duke and then-No. 5 North Carolina. Although a first-round bye in the conference tournament is no longer attainable, a deep conference tournament run and bid to the NCAA tournament are still within reach given the ACC's reputation as a women's lacrosse powerhouse.
The Cavaliers next travel to Norfolk, Va. to face Old Dominion Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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