For Duke, the scene was all too familiar.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils walked out of Katz Stadium with the sound of the field's water cannons replacing fans' cheers.
And on Thursday, in the first round of the ACC tournament, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers recreated the moment, knocking off No. 5 Duke 5-2 in what could have been the Blue Devils' last home game of the season.
The Duke players trudged off the field not to a rousing ovation and Crazy Towel Guy's waving, but to the unknown of the NCAA tournament that awaits them.
"You can pretty much spread the blame around," head coach Beth Bozman said. "Give credit to Virginia-they capitalized on all of our mistakes. The difference was that we didn't finish when we got in our attacking end."
The statistics support Bozman's claim, as Duke (13-7) matched the total shots on goal from the Cavaliers (14-5). But where the Blue Devil defense fell short, Virginia's Amy Desjadon took over. Her eight saves proved to be the deciding factor in the lopsided Virginia win.
Along with Desjadon's stellar performance, Virginia's defense kept the Duke offense at bay. As Duke learned last weekend, the key to beating the Cavalier defense is stringing together crisp passes-but the Blue Devils couldn't learn from their previous mistakes.
"We needed to have a little bit quicker passing inside the circle," junior Lauren Miller said. "We needed to execute when we were in there, by either drawing a corner or scoring."
Virginia's Traci Ragukas set the tempo for the game with her goal in the second minute, giving the Cavaliers the start they had hoped for. The Blue Devils quickly responded, though, with an Ashley Pultorak goal in the 25th minute. Duke wouldn't score again until the 59th minute, when the Cavaliers already led 4-1.
The problem? Duke simply couldn't capitalize on its opportunities.
"We weren't taking good shots," Bozman said. "The second half, they had one save on all of our shots."
Duke's trouble in the offensive end put the burden on its midfielders and defenders. The midfield couldn't handle the load, as it had difficulty stopping the Cavaliers' clearances, leading to numerous Virginia breakaways.
"A lot of our stops could have been more solid and then the deflections wouldn't have gotten down [into our zone]," Miller said. "[Virginia] has very strong forwards. You need to keep them from getting the ball, but once they have the ball, they are very quick and they have very good skills. You have to try to keep them outside the circle."
That task was easier said than done, and the Duke deficit, for the second straight match against Virginia, was too much to overcome.
Now, the Blue Devils turn their eyes to Tuesday's NCAA tournament selection to learn when and where they play next.
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