Three late goals boost Virginia past Duke, 8-7

CHAPEL HILL - It was the moment the men's lacrosse team had been waiting for all season long.

Up 7-5 midway through the fourth quarter, Duke's second-ever ACC tournament title-and the first for any Duke player on the field-was just minutes away.

Then it all gave way.

No. 5 Virginia scored three unanswered goals, including two in a 90-second span in the game's final minutes, and upset the top-seeded Blue Devils 8-7 yesterday at Fetzer Field. With the win, Virginia (8-3, 4-1 in the ACC) earned its second-ever tournament title. It marked the third-straight year that Duke (11-2, 3-2) has been eliminated from the ACC tourney by the Cavs.

"As a senior, it's a devastating loss," said Scott Diggs, who scored Duke's first two goals yesterday and had two more in Friday's 9-7 semifinal win over North Carolina. "It's tough because you want the ACC championship so bad.... It's a tough loss that will take a few days to get out of our system, but other than that, we're going to come right back out."

With just under two minutes to go and the game knotted at seven, Cavalier attackman Tucker Radebaugh shot the ball just as he was checked by defenseman Palin Archer. The ball hit the ground and at first Radebaugh thought it was going wide. But instead it snuck in between keeper Matt Breslin and the pipe.

"[Radebaugh]'s predominantly a lefty player and he came down the right alley," Breslin explained. "Probably about 10 yards he hit a bounce shot that got inside the pipe. I do think I should have had it. Palin was playing him well; he got a good check on him when he shot the ball. Tucker's a great player and great players make great plays with two minutes left when they have to."

For the second time in a week, Archer played magnificently and stifled Radebaugh for most of the game. Yesterday, Archer held Virginia's leading scorer to no points until Radebaugh found the back of the cage for the game winner with 1:51 left in the game.

"It was exciting to make the last save. It's what every goalie wants to do, make the winning save and win the ACC championship. It was a really exciting moment."

For a while, however, it looked like it would be Kenney's Duke counterpart that would walk off the field a hero. Breslin singlehandedly kept the Blue Devils in the game, registering a career-high 19 saves. He made big stops time after time and was the reason Duke held a fourth-quarter lead despite being outshot by the Cavs, 44-25.

"I thought my goalie was outstanding," coach Mike Pressler said. "Matt kept us in the game, especially early on when we were struggling.... I can't say enough about Matt Breslin. He was superior today."

All game long the Blue Devils relied on Breslin and their defensive line to carry them. And they responded, holding one of the nation's most potent attacks to single digits for the second time in a week.

But on the other side of the field, Duke struggled to generate offense. The Blue Devils, who lead the nation in faceoff percentage, won just seven faceoffs compared to UVa's 12. And when Duke did have the ball, the Blue Devils still could not fire off enough shots to challenge Kenney, a freshman keeper who has struggled at times this season.

"I'm disappointed we didn't generate enough offense," Pressler said. "We only had 25 shots. We generate more offense than that. I think Virginia had a lot to do with that.... Twenty-five shots is not enough against Derek Kenney. We need 35-40.

"In a one-goal game, if we make a couple more quality takes, I gotta think we just made some mental errors."

Virginia utilized its bench more successfully than Duke, playing 25 different players in the first quarter alone. And while Virginia certainly handled faceoffs and Duke's offense better than it did last week, ultimately the game was decided by the Cavaliers making the plays they needed to win.

Three different Cavaliers scored during Virginia's decisive 3-0 run, and neither one of those players had scored a goal until that point.

"It comes down to making plays," Pressler said. "We had chances to make plays at the end and we turned the ball over or didn't make them. In big games, you have to make them.

"Last week against the Wahoos, we won the faceoff in overtime, we make the play, we scored, that was the difference. Today, a one goal game, they made the play, they scored, that was the difference."

With the loss, the Blue Devils may have lost their chance to become one of the top four seeds in the NCAA tournament and receive a first-round bye. But despite the loss yesterday, the Blue Devils feel they will still be playing for a national championship. In 1997, Duke lost in the ACC finals to Virginia, only to advance to the school's first Final Four.

"These kids still have a lot of lacrosse to play," Pressler said. "Our first goal was to win the ACC tournament title, that didn't happen. But we have a bigger goal in front of us."

Notes: Breslin, Steve Card, Scott Diggs, Durnan and Tim Knowles were selected to the all-tournament team.... Duke next plays Penn State Saturday at 2 p.m. at Duke Lacrosse Stadium.