In the song "Only the Good Die Young," Billy Joel croons: "Come out Virginia/ Don't make me wait." Well, the lacrosse team probably wishes that Virginia hadn't taken his words to heart this weekend.
The No. 2 Cavaliers came out strong in the first, second and fourth quarters to defeat No. 7 Duke 15-13 at the Duke Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday. Virginia jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the game and then took the lead for good when it broke open a 12-12 tie with two goals in the first 32 seconds of the fourth quarter.
"They came out fast," Duke goalie Joe Kirmser said. "They came out hard in the fourth period and scored two quick goals. I think we were fighting back the whole way, instead of starting at even ground. The first few minutes of any quarter are crucial. If you get scored on early, that sets the tone for an uphill battle."
It was a struggle all day for Kirmser, who put most of the blame for the loss on his own shoulders. He did manage to make 20 saves for the Blue Devils (9-3, 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference).
"I didn't play as well as I should have," Kirmser said. "No doubt about it. I made some great saves and I gave up some shots I should have had.
"But I'm not putting the onus on me. That's not right. Our team didn't win the game today. That's the way it goes."
Both Kirmser and Duke head coach Mike Pressler said the key to the game was the play of Virginia goalie Court Durling. Durling made 19 saves including many spectacular grabs in the game's final quarter to preserve the lead for Virginia (10-1, 3-0).
"Court Durling played better than [I thought] he could play," Pressler said. "He stepped it up and Joe Kirmser wasn't great today. He was average and we needed Joe to be great for us to win. But it wasn't Joe's fault. We had our chances in the fourth quarter--some golden opportunities."
Pressler mentioned a late penalty for having too many men in the offensive box as an example of the kind of mistakes that cost Duke the game. He did say that the team's effort pleased him.
The players agreed.
"I think we played extremely hard today," attacker Scott Harrison said. "There is no lack of determination from this team. I don't think we executed as well as we could have. We turned the ball over a good deal, which seems to be happening to us a lot."
Duke cut down on its turnovers during the middle two quarters of the game to fight back from repeated deficits. The Blue Devils got out of the 3-0 hole that the Cavaliers had pressured them into, cutting the UVa lead to 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Virginia then scored the first three goals of the second quarter to take its biggest lead of the game. But the Blue Devils finished the half by outscoring UVa 6-1 to take a 9-8 lead into halftime. Midfielder Steve Finnell led the way for Duke during this span, notching three goals.
"Then we made some mistakes," said Jim Gonnella, who led all scorers with four goals. "We forced the ball a little bit. We didn't hold on to the ball and it came back and cost us.
"They're a great offensive team and they're going to make you pay for those mistakes."
Duke increased the lead to 12-10 before Virginia put on its final charge that would prove to be the game winner. UVa scored two goals late in the third period to enter the final quarter tied with Duke at 12-12.
On the opening faceoff, Virginia immediately took the ball down the field and scored when midfielder Ben Johnson found the net just five seconds into the quarter. UVa again took possession quickly on the ensuing faceoff and took a two-goal lead just 27 seconds later when a shot from Cavalier midfielder David Wren beat Kirmser.
"Virginia is an explosive team," Gonnella said. "I think they showed that by going on those four goal bursts. We're more ball control--you could see that when we battled back one goal at a time. But then they'd get four more and that takes a lot out of us."
Duke could only muster one more score before time ran out. The Blue Devils had good opportunities to score, but Durling repeatedly snuffed any offensive sparks they could muster.
The Blue Devils will soon have an opportunity to sneak some shots by Durling again. Revenge could come this Friday when the two teams meet in the first round of the ACC tournament in Chapel Hill.
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