Streak Continues, No. 1 Virginia Lacrosse Downed by No. 4 Duke 16-14

On a rainy evening in Charlottesville, No. 1 Virginia suffered its second loss this season at the hands of No. 4 Duke. The Blue Devils held on to the lead the entire game, which included fending off the Cavaliers in the final minutes to hand Virginia a 16-14 loss. For the Cavaliers, Payton Cormier led the way with six goals while Dickson added four of his own, but it was not enough to knock off the Blue Devils, who were led by Brennan O’Neill with six goals and three assists.

Duke jumped out to an early two-goal lead before Cormier fired back for the Cavaliers. Virginia started the game in a sloppy fashion which led to many turnovers. Duke added another goal to close the quarter before Dickson scored to make the score 3-2.

In response, the Blue Devils rattled off four straight goals as Virginia struggled to break through the Duke defense. The bright spot for the Cavaliers was Petey LaSalla, who went 10/16 in the first half from the x. LaSalla finished 20/34 from the x against standout faceoff specialist Jake Naso, who came into the game with a 65.3% faceoff percentage this season. 

Minutes later, Cormier netted two quick goals to make it 7-4. Cormier was covered by a short stick and took full advantage of the matchup, dodging to free himself for several goals rather than scoring off of assists from others. Dyson Williams fired back for Duke before Dickson scored two goals as part of a three-goal run for the Cavaliers to bring themselves within one. The Virginia scoring trickled into the second half until it was cut short by a goal from O’Neill.

Cormier then cut the lead to one before O’Neill ignited a three-goal run to give Duke a 12-8 lead. O’Neill demonstrated why he is a candidate for the Tewaaraton as the Virginia defense struggled to contain him. 

As it looked like the game was slipping away, Dickson netted a goal to cut the lead to three. Minutes later, the Cavaliers were rewarded with an non-releasable man-up opportunity where Virginia scored twice to make it 12-11. Both man-up goals were assisted by Shellenberger, who appeared to have a brace on his right leg and did not initiate much offense. Shellenberger finished with three assists and no goals while being guarded by Duke's Kenny Brower.

Just as it seemed Virginia had a chance of knotting the game up, Duke responded with four straight goals, which trickled into the fourth quarter. During that run, the Cavaliers attempted a zone defense that O'Neill exploited by finding Dyson Williams on the crease. Additionally, Will Frisoli scored on an open net as Virginia's ten-man ride collapsed. O’Neill then capped the run with his sixth goal of the day to give Duke a 16-11 lead.

With less than ten minutes remaining Grayson Sallade found the back of the net in transition before Cormier scored on man-up to cut the lead to three. With three minutes left, Peter Garno netted his second of the day to cut the lead to two. In the final moments, Virginia had many offensive possessions, but the Duke defense stood tall to hand the Cavaliers a 16-14 loss.

Payton Cormier led the way with six goals and Xander Dickson had four goals. Additionally, Jeff Connor picked up three assists, while Thomas McConvey scored a goal to extend his point streak to 61. 

The Cavaliers (7-2, 1-1 ACC) will look to bounce back next Friday on the road against No. 12 North Carolina at 6pm. 

See more Virginia men's lacrosse news and content: Virginia Men's Lacrosse on Sports Illustrated

See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated

To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:

Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN