WINSTON-SALEM - From the outset, there was a feeling that Friday was not going to be the Blue Devils' night.
Duke entered the ACC tournament semi-final game against Virginia still recovering from a double-overtime victory against N.C. State less than 24 hours before kickoff.
The result was a flat performance, as the Cavaliers beat the Blue Devils 3-0 to knock them out of the tournament and leave Duke waiting for word from the NCAA tournament selection committee.
"We had a really hard game [against N.C. State] and we weren't quite as sharp," Duke coach John Rennie said. "They are a very good team and they played very well. I have to give them a lot of credit. Obviously, we don't want to use [the previous game] as an excuse. We had our chances."
There was another major factor besides the Blue Devils' weariness that played a role.
Duke entered the game having beaten the Cavaliers four straight times, including a 3-2 victory in Charlottesville earlier this year and last season's 2-1 triple-overtime victory in the ACC tournament final.
Needless to say, Virginia had some extra motivation.
"We haven't beaten this team since 1998," UVa coach George Gelnovatch said. "I think we were kind of tired of losing to this team.... We had to get over this Duke thing, and today was the day."
The Cavaliers came out playing aggressively, but were not able to get on the board until the 31st minute of play.
Virginia's first goal came when Jonathan Cole headed Alecko Eskandarian's corner kick into the Duke net.
"They swung the ball out eight to 10 yards away from the net," Duke goalkeeper Jeff Haywood said. "There were a couple of people around him. It was just a good header. It got just under the crossbar."
The 1-0 lead held up until halftime. The tight score placed a huge premium on getting the first goal in the second half.
"We thought that whoever scored the first goal of the second half would win the game," Rennie said.
Duke attempted to increase the pressure on the UVa defense. But the Cavaliers kept the Blue Devils from getting any decent chances.
"I would say that it was our whole team defensively," Gelnovatch said. "It wasn't just our back four. They all got behind the ball. At times our forwards were tracking guys back into the box."
The critical second goal came in the game's 78th minute. Virginia forward Ryan Gibbs broke out of a fight for the ball just outside of the penalty area. He held off Nii-Amar Amamoo long enough to get off a shot that beat Haywood to the near side and put the Cavaliers ahead 2-0.
"They got the second goal, and that pretty much decided the game," Rennie said. "If we had gotten that goal, it would have been a better game."
Down 2-0, the Blue Devils were forced to press forward even harder. But they were unable to score, and less than seven minutes after his first goal, Gibbs struck again.
Sheldon Barnes hooked a left footed pass across the box to a charging Gibbs. Gibbs received the ball 10 yards from the net and beat Haywood. The shot put the Cavaliers up 3-0, and the game out of reach.
"We were passing the ball pretty well," Gibbs said. "In the second half, people get tired. I picked my spots to go at them and I was fortunate enough to get two goals."
The loss knocked the Blue Devils out of the ACC tournament and leaves them waiting to find out who they are matched up with in the NCAA tournament. Pairings will be announced this afternoon.
"It's just a disappointing loss right now," Rennie said. "At this point, that's all I can say. The NCAA tournament is a whole different animal. I don't think this will have any impact on that."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.