It wasn't supposed to happen this way. After a loss last Saturday to 16th-ranked Harvard, the men's lacrosse team was prepared to rebound with a victory this Saturday over No. 18 University of Massachusetts. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned, and a third-quarter rally was not enough to stop the Minutemen from taking the contest, 13-9.
UMass scored early and often at its home turf in Amherst, Mass. In the first quarter, the Minutemen outscored the No. 10 Blue Devils 5-2. From then on, it was a fight to regain control that the Duke simply could not pull off. The Blue Devils lost the second period by a goal, leaving the Blue Devils down 9-5 at halftime. A valiant effort in the third quarter brought Duke to within three, but UMass regained the four-goal lead in the final quarter and held on to it until the end.
Duke's offense struggled to get things going this weekend. Sophomore John Fay, who has had close to four goals per game this season, was held to only two, as was senior teammate James Heavey. The Blue Devils, while outshooting their opponents 38-32, only converted 23 percent of the time. Duke also lost ground on the ground balls, when UMass outscrambled them 32-22.
An unexpected performance for the Blue Devils was that of junior Alex Whitten. Whitten, who has scored less than one goal per game, spurred Duke on with a hat trick. Other contributers included juniors Scott Allen, who also notched two assists, and Joe Donovan.
The Duke defense also had difficulties. Senior All-American goalie Joe Kirmser, who has recorded a .611 save percentage this season, had only a .541 percentage in the UMass game.
Heavey attributed Duke's loss to a combination of the Blue Devils' unreadiness to play and UMass' need for a win.
"They found themselves in the same situation that we are [in]," Heavey said. "The NCAA selections are coming up, and they're No. 18, just trying to get in."
Heavey also said that he expects the coaches at the practices between now and the next game to take a hard look at the team's offense and make some changes.
"There are only three or four games between now and [the NCAA Tournament selections]," Heavey said. "The ACC Tournament is never easy, it can go to anyone. It's one of the toughest conferences to play in-there are four really good teams."
Duke's final game before the ACC tournament is its home game vs. Virginia on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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