It only would have been fitting for Duke to have made a comeback against Virginia. But the Blue Devils never even got close to avenging their devastating loss in last May's NCAA tournament semifinals.
The Blue Devils (7-3, 1-2 in the ACC) fell to the No. 4 Cavaliers 13-9 Saturday at Koskinen Stadium, missing out on their first chance at revenge following the dramatic postseason game in which Virginia came back from 10 goals down to advance to the title contest.
"We didn't take care of some fundamentals today," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We didn't have the ball the whole first half. If we have it, we're always confident that we can score. But we just didn't have the ball."
With the defeat, Duke dropped its second straight conference game and saw a 19-game home winning streak end. The Blue Devils are now ranked fifth in the ACC while Virginia (8-2, 3-1) sits atop the conference.
After Duke scored a season-low two goals in the first period, the Blue Devils came out of halftime rejuvenated and refocused, as freshman Emma Hamm struck 17 seconds into the period to make the score 8-3. Despite going scoreless for the next eight minutes, Duke was able to stifle Virginia's high-scoring offense, limiting them to only one goal in that same stretch.
For the Blue Devils, the difference in halves was all about faceoffs.
"We just kind of woke up a little bit," goalkeeper Kim Imbesi said of the second half. "It started with the draw. It was just winning the draw and chipping away a little bit at a time. That was our mentality going in."
Duke was forced to change its gameplan after earning only three draw controls in the first 20 minutes. Because of the lack of offensive possessions, the Blue Devils were outshot 14-6 by the Cavaliers in the first.
Thanks to a strong performance by freshman Sarah Bullard, who recorded four draw controls, however, Duke outdrew Virginia 8-5 in the second half.
As a result, the Blue Devils seemed poised to make a run at the beginning of the second period. After back-to-back goals by junior attacker Carolyn Davis, Duke finally found its offensive rhythm and appeared ready to mount an attack on the Cavaliers. The score was 9-5 in favor of the visitors, but even the crowd sensed a Blue Devil comeback.
"Anything's possible in this game," Imbesi said. "It's so fast-paced, and momentum changes all the time. We never thought that we were out for the count. We always thought we could come back."
But Virginia had an answer for every Duke goal. After junior Lindsay Gilbride brought her team to within three at 12-9 with less than five minutes remaining, Virginia won the last draw control of the game and held onto the ball until time expired.
"Bottom line, this game came down to possession," Imbesi said.
Led by junior attacker Jenny Hauser, who paced all scorers with five goals, the Cavaliers outshot the Blue Devils 28-10.
Although Duke will get a break from conference play, the Blue Devils' schedule is not getting any easier. Duke next faces 13th-ranked Notre Dame April 3.
After suffering two tough defeats, the Blue Devils hope an optimistic outlook will propel them out of their losing streak.
"We have to stay focused on the positives because we have two tough games coming in the next week," Kimel said. "We have no time to rest or recover."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.