After a cursory look at Virginia's pregame warm-up routine, there was a sense that this was finally going to be "The Year"-the year in which Duke's women's lacrosse team ended four years of frustration and beat the Cavaliers for the first time since the program's inception in 1996.
"After seeing the way we were playing in warm-ups, I said to one of the [assistant coaches], 'We're going to go down. We're going to dig a ditch and we're going to have to fight like hell to get back out,'" Virginia coach Julie Myers said.
But somehow No. 8 Virginia (8-4, 1-2 in the ACC) managed to climb out of the ditch just in time to upset third-ranked Duke (7-3, 1-2), 10-8, and beat a top-10 team for the first time this season.
However, the Blue Devils looked dominant early as they jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead on the strength of two of Kelly Dirks' three goals. With 18:53 left in the first half, Courtney Rodgers scored on a free position shot. The goal gave Duke a 4-0 lead as the Cavalier contention sat in stunned silence.
On the ensuing draw, Duke gained control of the ball and Kate Kaiser and Dirks worked a two-on-one break to perfection just nine seconds later, forcing Virginia to burn a timeout.
"It was almost like we weren't even there for the first 12 minutes," All-American midfielder Amy Fromal said. "[After
The timeout worked, and 40 minutes of play later, the Cavaliers had drawn within a goal of the Blue Devils. It wouldn't take long to erase that deficit as UVa's Stephy Samaras knotted the score at 8-8 on a free position shot to forge the first tie of the game. Less than six minutes later, Fromal's goal gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the match with a couple minutes remaining.
"Amy Fromal's goal was probably the most important one," Myers said. "She's a player that runs her butt off all over the field and makes so many good things happen. She scored a bunch today on the eight [meter circle]. But for her to make a tough catch inside the eight and turn and get a shot off and have that goal was huge."
The Blue Devils, who were nearly flawless in the first half, didn't do a good job of taking care of the ball in the second half. Most of Duke's 22 turnovers came in the second half, which limited Duke's number of possessions. Because they had far fewer possessions in the second half, the Blue Devils managed only three second-half shots.
Virginia began the game slowly, but thanks to the inspired play of its new-look defense, the Cavs were able to climb back into the game.
"It was a totally different defense, we played together today," All-American defender Ashley Widger said. "Usually it's a sagging zone and we just stepped up our man-to-man defense and we did a great job today."
Conversely, the Blue Devils' intensity level dropped significantly in the second half, which was readily apparent when Virginia began beating them to the ground balls. UVa also picked up most of the draw controls, finishing with a 15-5 advantage.
"Our kids, quite honestly, got scared," Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said. "I thought they played really tentative. I thought they showed very little courage and very little heart in the last half of the second half, and you can't afford to do that against a top team."
The Duke defense was impressive in the early stages as Amy Noble and the rest of the crew turned in sterling performances, stopping one UVa scoring attempt after another. The physical nature of Duke's defense, which many opponents have complained about, seemed to rattle the Cavaliers and they weren't able to get their offense going early.
"It was probably the roughest game that we played in, where pushes and hits were happening that weren't getting called," Myers said. "I thought our kids had to adjust to it. I think we're pretty bruised up, but I'm sure that we gave them some bruises."
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