Another week, another game played against a recent national champion, another Duke blowout.
The No. 2 Blue Devils (12-1, 3-0 in the ACC) used a 10-0 second-half run to pull away from the third-ranked Cavaliers (10-2, 1-2) Saturday night, turning a 9-9 nailbiter into a 19-9 victory in front of a record 8,000 fans in Klockner Stadium. With the win, Duke wrapped up the ACC regular season title and snapped Virginia's eight-game home winning streak over the Blue Devils.
Although the game went back and forth all evening, the Blue Devils held Virginia scoreless for the last 23:31. Duke scored five goals in the last half of the third quarter, then five more in the final period to close out the contest.
"We withstood their runs," head coach John Danowski said. "I was very proud of our guys, who withstood their runs and continued to bear down and make plays."
Zack Greer continued to show why he's one of the nation's most feared attackman, as he finished with three tallies on the night. Attackman Matt Danowski added one goal and three assists, moving him into second place in NCAA history with 323 career points.
But Duke also got some much-needed help from some of its lesser-known players, as Steve Schoeffel-who had scored just eight goals all season-pitched in his first hat trick of the year.
Attackman Max Quinzani had the most productive evening for any Blue Devil though, amassing a career-high seven goals on just 10 shots to push his season total to 43-one ahead of Greer's 42 for the best in the country. Quinzani got going early after converting a Sam Payton assist for Duke's first goal of the game just 16 seconds in.
The sophomore also scored with less than a second left in both the first and second quarters, giving Duke a lift going into each break. But after Virginia clawed back to make it 4-4, Duke responded with a 5-0 run-four from Quinzani-to reclaim the lead, 9-4. The Cavaliers weren't done, tying the score once more with 8:31 to play in the third quarter.
That's when the Blue Devils opened up the flood gates. Nine different Duke players scored ten consecutive goals to close out the rout.
Facing a team also known for its fast-paced play, Duke somehow held Virginia at bay despite a 1-for-6 face-off performance in the final period. The Cavaliers fired 50 percent of their shots on net, but Dan Loftus turned away each attempt. Virginia was done in by Duke's efficiency on the other end, as the Blue Devils netted five of their six shots on goal.
The back-and-forth, up-and-down nature of the game was a welcome style for Duke, which has become accustomed to other teams trying to slow down its transition game.
"The tempo was great," John Danowski said. "They want to play fast, [and] we want to play fast. They had some great athletes. It was up-and-down, and it was really a lot of fun to be a part of. It was like an old-time lacrosse game-play offense, play defense, get up and down."
Virginia was just 1-for-6 on extra-man opportunities-0-for-3 in the fourth quarter-a pedestrian outing for a team that came into the contest converting an NCAA-best 61.5 percent of its man-up chances. The Blue Devils have struggled on man-down at times this year, but they played stingy defense in those situations against the Cavaliers, a performance that Danowski said made him proud.
With the victory, Duke locked up the top seed in the ACC tournament and will face fourth-seeded North Carolina in the first round April 25, again in Klockner Stadium.
But the Blue Devils aren't looking ahead to that game just yet. As dominant as they have been during the last two weeks, Danowski said they can't afford to overlook anybody.
"There are so many upsets today in college lacrosse," Danowski said. "If you're not ready to play, you're going to lose on any Saturday. We're going to need to enjoy the victory, obviously. But we're going to come back Monday, and we're going to practice and be ready to work and ready to focus on the things that we need to get better at."
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