No team ever has a season completely without setbacks. Saturday, one of those setbacks for the women's lacrosse team came in the form of the Virginia Cavaliers.
No. 2 Duke suffered only its second loss of the season, as the fourth-ranked Cavaliers (8-3, 1-2 in the ACC) beat the Blue Devils (8-2, 1-2) 15-9 in Charlottesville, ending Duke's seven-game winning streak.
"A loss is going to come at some point, but this was a really tough one for us because we have never beaten Virginia," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We did not have our best effort, and Virginia put out a great effort."
The Virginia offense was led by Jess Hull, Gina Sambus and Mills Hook, who each netted three goals on the day. The Duke defense appeared fragile against the Wahoo attack, allowing 15 goals, the most it has given up this season.
The Blue Devils took an early lead on a Kelly Dirks goal 6:44 into the contest, but the Cavaliers dominated from that point on. Two quick scores by the home team gave UVa a 2-1 lead with 20:01 remaining in the opening half, and the Wahoos never looked back.
Duke pulled within one at 4-3 with 7:10 to go in the first stanza, but the Cavs responded with three unanswered goals for a 7-3 halftime advantage.
When Dirks and Kate Soulier opened the second half by each netting a goal, it appeared as if Duke was on the comeback trail.
Once again, however, Virginia responded to the challenge, netting four of the game's next five goals for an 11-6 lead. The Blue Devils' tank fell to empty, and Virginia cruised down the stretch for the six-goal win.
"I told my team that one of these teams was going to have to step up its level of play to win the game," Kimel said. "Virginia stepped up to that challenge, and we didn't."
Two stats told the whole story for Duke: shots and ground balls. The Cavs pressured the net for 38 shots, compared to only 22 for the Blue Devils. These opportunities on net may have been a result of recovered ground balls, an area Virginia dominated, 37-22.
"We got outhustled and outplayed," Kimel said. "You have to give Virginia credit; they just played a great game.... We did not take care of the ball the way we should have."
Kimel, however, was not as upset by the number of shots her team took as she was by the poor shooting when it had open looks.
"We were hitting their goalie a lot Saturday," Kimel said. "She wasn't moving very well, but we would shoot right into her body or her stick. It's frustrating to have a good opportunity and not put it in the net. There are definitely some basic things that we have to go back and work on this week."
The loss places Duke in a three-way tie for second in the ACC, with No. 1 Maryland as the top seed outright.
In a year of firsts for the program, Duke's first win over Virginia will have to wait. In the meantime, the Blue Devils will look to rebound this weekend with road games against Notre Dame and Yale.
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