Duke ends ACC schedule winless

What was at stake this weekend for the men's lacrosse team, who entered its game against Virginia with more losses than wins (4-6, 0-3 in the ACC)?

   Duke's season wasn't on the line--that will come next week at the ACC tournament.

   And beating Virginia, which hasn't played consistently this season despite returning many of its players from its 2003 NCAA championship team, wasn't going to give Duke a quality win strong enough to guarantee an invitation.

   No, the game was to determine seeding for the ACC playoffs, and more importantly for the Blue Devils, it was a chance to prove their sub-par record wasn't what it seemed. Three of Duke's losses have been by one goal, after all.

   After losing to No. 2 Johns Hopkins by just a goal last week, it was, at the very least, disappointing for the Blue Devils to lose to the No. 18 Cavaliers (4-6, 1-2) by nine goals.

   "We were off all over," said sophomore midfielder Matt Zash, who scored a goal in the second quarter. "It was a struggle all game to get a decent possession. The way we played, the lack of effort, to lose a game like that, it's heart breaking."

   The Blue Devils spent almost 43 minutes--more than two-thirds of the game--watching their shots miss the cage or be turned aside by Virginia's Tillman Johnson, perhaps the best goalie in Division I.

   If not for Zash's score just into the second quarter and senior midfielder Grant Byczek's goal at the very end of the game, Duke would have had less points (4) than Duke's women's tennis team scored in its match Sunday.

   Then again, there are easier things in the world than trying to score on Johnson, an All-American and the USILA goalie and player of the year in 2003.

   "He made some nice saves," Zash said. "Our shooting wasn't where it needed to be for that type of game."

   Four players scored a goal apiece for Duke while three Cavaliers had hat tricks. The Blue Devils held their own in the face-off circle for the second straight game, winning 9-of-20, but were outshot (40-33) and beaten to the groundballs (43-33).

   The loss gives the Blue Devils an 0-3 record in conference play and the bottom seed for next week's ACC tournament in Chapel Hill. Duke will play top-seeded Maryland while Virginia and North Carolina meet in the other semifinal.

   If the Blue Devils want to reach their fourth consecutive ACC tournament title game, they will have to upset Maryland and the winner of the other semifinal--a team that will have already defeated Duke in the regular season.

   In fact, the Duke players might want to go looking for some four-leaf clovers and buy some lucky rabbits feet this week.

   "I think we have a great chance [in the ACC tournament]," Zash said. "We've always been successful, been in the finals the last three years. We don't plan on losing another game for the rest of the season. It's do-or-die for us. If we lose again, we are out."