CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - History always repeats itself-sometimes sooner than later.
For the second week in a row, sixth-ranked Duke (8-3, 1-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) traveled to Klockner Stadium to meet No. 5 Virginia (6-4, 3-2). And for the second week in a row, the Blue Devils blew a fourth-quarter lead to fall to the Cavaliers in the first round of the ACC Tournament, this time by a score of 11-9.
One thing did change though-Cavalier attackman Drew McKnight. The nation's second-leading assist man had five assists last week against Duke. Friday night, he moved from his usual spot behind the net, and instead of setting up plays, he finished them.
McKnight scored a career-best five goals, including the game-tying and go-ahead goals (both unassisted) in a 47-second span during the fourth quarter.
"I think they were playing me to feed and would slide a little late sometimes, and I was getting good looks at the goal," McKnight said.
Despite McKnight's performance, the Blue Devils had a good chance for victory. A 2-0 third-quarter advantage gave Duke a one-goal lead heading into the fourth. That's when the Cavaliers took over.
Virginia took advantage of Duke's dismal 4-of-7 clearing to dominate time of possession in the final frame. In that quarter, the Cavs outshot the Blue Devils 13-3 and put the game away with an opening four-goal run.
"The fourth quarter has been a strength of our team the last two years, but for the second week in a row we just didn't finish," Duke coach Mike Pressler said. "We had our chances in the end there, but poor decision-making on our part didn't give us the opportunity to get back in the game.
"It's nothing really Virginia did, it's more what we didn't do."
What Duke didn't do was resemble the lacrosse team that had won eight games in a row while holding all eight opponents to single-digit scoring. The close defense played the Cavs' attack line loosely, and UVa took advantage of the cushions it was given.
Offensively, after jumping out to a 5-1 advantage, the Blue Devils went cold. Sloppy turnovers and poor shot selection plagued Duke in the final quarters, as it only mustered one goal in the last 19 minutes, a meaningless Scott Diggs seven-yarder with 2:17 left.
"We made some bad decisions on offense, weak plays and a lot of unforced turnovers," said John Fay, whose three goals and two assists were the one bright spot for the Blue Devils. "Virginia tightened up their defense a little bit, but I fault us."
In the first 17 minutes, it seemed Duke could do no wrong. The Blue Devils were as sharp on offense as they have been all year, seizing a 6-2 lead.
But once their defense tightened up, all the Cavaliers needed was McKnight and Jay Jalbert, who tallied eight of UVa's 11 goals, including three of its last four. The duo scored four goals in a critical 5-0 run to end the half that gave the Cavs a 7-6 lead.
"[McKnight's] a blue-chip attackman, there's no doubt about it," Pressler said. "But I was disappointed by the way our close defense played those guys. We gave them a big cushion and too much room. I fault our guys; they should have played them closer."
Pressler predicts he will be holding more exhausting practices to better prepare his team for fourth quarters. The Blue Devils next see game action on Saturday against Hobart-ranked eighth nationally-in Duke's final home game of the season.
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