An uncharacteristically poor performance at controlling the draw in the second half doomed the Blue Devils to their fourth loss of the season.
After trailing by three at the half, No. 12 Virginia (6-4, 1-2 in the ACC) dominated possession in the second period to upset No. 6 Duke (8-4, 2-1) 14-12 Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
Losing the draw control battle for just the second time this season, the Blue Devils controlled only four of 14 draws in the second half, allowing the Cavaliers to set the pace of play.
“[The draw] was really the biggest part of the second half,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “We didn’t have the ball.”
In the first half, the Blue Devils played as they had for much of the season, holding an advantage in shots, ground balls and draw controls.
Despite falling behind 3-1 early, Duke scored three goals in 30 seconds to take its first lead. In addition, to end the half, the Blue Devils went on a 4-1 run, powered by two goals from junior Makenzie Hommel, to take an 8-5 lead.
Duke’s second-half possession struggles let Virginia right back into the game as the Cavaliers scored three unanswered goals.
“Virginia’s good,” Kimel said. “They’ve had a tough season. They’ve been a little up and down, but they’re good, and you can’t afford to take any piece of the game lightly. I think the thing that disappoints me is… the draw and the ground balls are our game.”
With a firm hold on possession, Virginia accumulated a 15 -9 shot advantage.
Despite nine saves from Blue Devil senior Mollie Mackler, the Cavaliers retook the lead with 16:42 left to play on a goal from Katie Slater.
The Virginia sophomore led the Cavaliers in scoring, tallying three of her four goals in the second half.
“What she did against us is exactly what she’s done in [previous] games, and I just don’t think we did necessarily a great job of holding her and/or getting help to her in time,” Kimel said. “We were really late to do that.”
Without redshirt senior Casey Beyel, who did not play due to an injury suffered against Dartmouth Mar. 17, directing the backfield, Duke struggled to slow down Virginia’s attack.
Additionally, the team committed 16 second-half fouls, more than Virginia racked up in the entire game.
“We’ve got to figure out if we can have a better voice on the field,” Kimel said. “We missed Casey Beyel today, I think, tremendously.... We hear her all the time on the field. She directs traffic all over the place.”
After back-and-forth scoring, a goal from Duke sophomore Molly Quirke evened the score at 12 with 8:23 to play.
Winning three straight draw controls, however, the Cavaliers seized a two-goal lead in the next three minutes.
Although the Blue Devils would regain possession twice more, the best opportunity they had to make it back into the game was a shot that ricocheted off the post.
“We’ve got to find our voice, and we’ve got to do the dirty work to be ready to win the hustle categories next Friday [against North Carolina],” Kimel said.
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