It was the largest comeback victory in the history of the NCAA tournament-a stunning 14-13 win for Virginia, which overcame a ten-goal deficit in the final 20 minutes of play to beat Duke in the final four May 25.
It was the last time the No. 5 Blue Devils (7-2, 1-1 in the ACC) took on the fourth-ranked Cavaliers (7-2, 2-1). But despite the crushing nature of last spring's defeat, this Duke squad holds that game's importance with little regard as it prepares to take on Virginia tomorrow at Koskinen Stadium at 1 p.m.
"We don't want there to be any focus on Virginia beyond our preparation because there's no point," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "If we spend energy focusing on last year's game and other things to do with Virginia, it's taking our focus and our emphasis and our energy away from preparing ourselves to play our game.... We haven't even thought about that [game]."
Perhaps as a team, the Blue Devils' focus is set solely on their own strategy, but for at least one individual, this contest means something more.
Last year, midfielder Carolyn Davis was carted off Franklin Field in Philadelphia with a torn left ACL in the final stretch of the Virginia game. The junior had to watch from the sidelines as her team's ten-goal lead dissipated.
"It was a devastating loss, and it's all in the back of our minds that we don't want that to happen again this year," Davis said. "But when I went down, as hard as it was to lose, it was just as hard to hurt my knee."
But Davis has recovered from her traumatic injury and has emerged this season as Duke's premier attacking threat. She leads the team with 28 goals and has also notched 10 assists, all while wearing a protective knee brace.
"She has developed into a solid attacker this year versus last year when she was more on the defensive side," junior midfielder Jess Adam said. "She's stepping into a role where not only is she putting up big numbers being our top attacker, but helping to facilitate and lead the attack down there as well."
Duke will need all the help and leadership it can muster to beat Virginia, whose offense Kimel called a "well-oiled machine." The Cavaliers' biggest statistical strength, however, is their defensive unit, which ranks as the seventh best in the nation.
Led by junior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty, the Cavaliers are giving up just 7.5 goals per game and have allowed just one opponent to record double-digit goals this season.
"They have a tremendous goalie-[McBrearty is] probably the best goalie in our conference right now," Kimel said. "They're just a great team, but they have two losses as well...which just speaks to the parity there is in our game."
Duke has plenty of tough games to look forward to beyond this one against ACC foe Virginia. Games against teams like No. 1 Northwestern and 13th-ranked Notre Dame are just around the corner for the Blue Devils, who hope to avoid losing their first home game since April 2006 and to evade their first pair of back-to-back defeats since March 2005.
But Davis and the Blue Devils still believe that this game-and their past defeats-have little to do with their ultimate aspirations and overall success.
"There's something to prove but not necessarily to [Virginia]," Davis said. "This season we want to get to [the final four] and further, to the National Championship, and whether that has to do with UVa or not, it's still our end goal."
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