Courtesy: Pete Emerson/UVa Media Relations Ben Rubeor scored twice in the Cavaliers' loss to Duke Saturday night.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Second-ranked Duke exploded for 10 unanswered goals to gain a convincing 19-9 win over Virginia tonight before a record crowd of 8000 fans at Klöckner Stadium. The loss is Virginia’s first ever night loss at Klöckner after 21 consecutive wins dating back to 1993.
With the victory—its fourth in a row over Virginia—Duke earns the top seed in the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and improves its record to 12-1 this season.
Virginia is now 10-2 this season and will be the third seed in the conference tournament in two weeks.
The Blue Devils opened the contest with three goals in the first five minutes, but Virginia chipped away and tied the score at four on a Ben Rubeor goal at the 12:01 mark of the second quarter.
Max Quinzani scored three of Duke’s next four goals to give the Blue Devils an 8-4 lead at halftime. He scored early in the third quarter to extend Duke’s lead to five at 9-4. Quinzani finished with a career-high seven goals. He also snagged 10 ground balls, including four that he turned into goals.
“They are so good with the ball on the ground. I really felt like that’s where the game was won and lost, with the ball on the ground,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “When the ball is on the deck, they have a chance to pick it up and make an unsettled opportunity. They were just so slick around the cage. Defensively we weren’t as smart as we needed to be throughout the game. They took advantage of every unsettled opportunity.”
The Cavaliers gave the record crowd plenty to cheer about as they fought back with five goals of their own to knot the score at 9-all with 8:31 left in the third quarter. Garrett Billings got Virginia started with his only goal of the night to answer Quinzani’s goal less than a minute after halftime.
Peter Lamade, a Duke graduate playing at UVa as a grad student this season, scored following a nice pass from Brian Carroll to draw the Cavaliers closer.
Will Barrow trimmed Duke’s lead to 9-7 with his fourth goal of the year with less than four minutes elapsed. Carroll’s extra-man goal cut the deficit to one and Steve Giannone, last week’s Cavalier hero, tied the score at nine with 8:31 to go in the third quarter.
More than four minutes passed before Zack Greer notched his second goal of the game to start Duke on its impressive run that ended any hopes the Cavaliers had of winning. Michael Ward and Zach Howell scored quickly as Duke’s lead grew to 12-9 with fewer than three minutes to play in the quarter.
Following Brad Ross’ goal with 1:36 remaining in the period, Mark Wade replaced an injured Bud Petit in goal for Virginia.
Mike Catalino scored on the Blue Devils’ first shot against Wade to close the third quarter scoring as they took a 14-9 lead into the final period. Five different players scored for Duke in the final 15 minutes as Virginia suffered its worst home loss in 21 years.
The Cavaliers return to action next Saturday (April 19) at home against Dartmouth in their annual Senior Day contest. The game is scheduled to face off at 1 pm and will broadcast on ACC Select.
Duke 4-4-6-5—19 record: 12-1/3-0 ACC Virginia 1-3-5-0—9 record: 10-2/1-2 ACC att—8000 (Klöckner Stadium record)
Scoring (G-A)— D: Max Quinzani 7-1, Zack Greer 3-0, Steve Schoeffel 3-0, Matt Danowski 1-3, Nick O’Hara 1-1, Mike Catalino 1-0, Zach Howell 1-0, Brad Ross 1-0, Michael Ward 1-0, Sam Payton 0-1. V: Ben Rubeor 2-1, Will Barrow 1-1, Garrett Billings 1-1, Brian Carroll 1-1, Gavin Gill 1-1, Shamel Bratton 1-0, Steve Giannone 1-0, Peter Lamade 1-0, Danny Glading 0-1, Garett Ince 0-1.
Goalie Summary—D: Dan Loftus 52:46 mins., 12 saves, 9 goals allowed; Rob Schroeder 7:14 mins., 1 save, 0 goals allowed. V: Bud Petit 43:24 mins., 9 saves, 13 goals allowed; Mark Wade 16:36 mins., 1 save, 6 goals allowed.
Full Scoreboard
Courtesy: Pete Emerson/UVa Media Relations