After taking down top-10 opponents UCLA and Notre Dame earlier this season, there was hope for the Blue Devils to earn one more upset victory in their regular season finale.
But No. 17 Virginia escaped with a late goal to end Duke's longest winning streak of the year.
The Blue Devils fell to the Cavaliers in a tough 1-0 loss on the road at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. After fending off Virginia in an impressive defensive effort for 86 minutes, Duke goalkeeper Robert Moewes conceded the only score of the game on a spectacular shot from Cavalier redshirt junior Pablo Aguilar.
Despite letting in the decisive goal, Moewes put in a strong performance throughout the game, as did the rest of the Blue Devils. Duke (7-7-2, 2-5-1 in the ACC) held Virginia to just two shots on goal throughout the contest and even outshot the Cavaliers in the first half, 6-3. Three of the Blue Devils’ shots in the first frame were on goal, but none could sneak past Virginia goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell.
The Cavaliers (9-2-5, 3-2-3) defended frenetically throughout the first 45 minutes to keep Duke off the board.
At different points throughout the early going, the Blue Devils were able to cut into the attacking third thanks to great possession from their wings. Freshman Max Moser had Duke’s best chance all game when he found himself with an open shot from 18 yards with just Caldwell to beat, but Caldwell managed to parry it to safety. Moser leads the team in assists with six, but he could not find a dish Friday, as Brian White and Markus Fjortoft also added shots on goal for the Blue Devils that could not find the back of the net.
After halftime, Virginia returned to the form befitting a top-20 team. The Cavaliers outshot Duke 8-1 in the second half, creating shots and possession in bunches and forcing Moewes to step up and protect his line. Moewes was all that stood between a Virginia strike from inside 15 yards and a deficit right out of halftime for the Blue Devils in the 52nd minute, as the graduate student ran from the goal line to hold the ball before a Cavalier striker could slot it past him.
About seven minutes later, Moewes dove to his left to deny Edward Opoku and keep Virginia scoreless.
Despite Moewes' heroics, the Cavaliers' persistence paid off when Aguilar set up the game-winner. After finding enough space at the top of the 18-yard box to pull up, Aguilar curled a strike past Moewes, who was helpless to save it.
Following the loss, the Blue Devils head into next week’s ACC tournament as the No. 10 seed. They will find out who their opponent is following the conclusion of Saturday's night's ACC games, but know they will open the postseason on the road Wednesday.
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