Duke Falls As Virginia Comes Back In ACC Tournament, 10-9

Friday, April 25

Charlottesville, Va.

3:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia

Bullard Named Student-Athlete Of The Week

Duke Falls As Virginia Comes Back In ACC Tournament, 10-9

4/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- No. 11 Duke (10-7) saw a lead slip to an all-too-familiar opponent on Friday afternoon in the ACC Tournament semifinals at Scott Stadium. The Blue Devils ran out to a 7-1 advantage early on and an 8-3 lead at halftime, only to watch No. 3 Virginia (13-3) come-from-behind and seize the victory, 10-9.

The game was a story of two halves, as the No. 3 seed Blue Devils clearly dominated the first half and the No. 2 seed Cavaliers took over in the second. At halftime, Duke's 8-3 lead seemed even bigger than it was, as the Blue Devils dominated possession in the first period. The eight goals scored were the most put up on Virginia in one half this season.

Junior attacker Megan Del Monte and freshman midfielder Sarah Bullard led the way for the Blue Devils with two goals each in the first stanza. Bullard added one more in the second to give her three for the game. Freshman midfielder Caroline Spearman also tallied her first career goal to put Duke up 6-1 at that point.

“Sarah Bullard is a huge aspect for us on the midfield and is a constant steady for us,” said junior attacker Carolyn Davis. “I'm so proud of her. Actually Caroline Spearman had a huge game. She hasn't gotten that much experience so I think the whole team was really impressed with her today.”

Duke won the draw, 12-9, but lost its first game of the season when winning that stat. Midfielders Emma Hamm and Jess Adam combined for eight draw controls in the contest to help give the Blue Devils that edge. Duke also lost their first contest of the year when holding an opponent to 10 goals or less.

“I was really proud of our kids the way they handled the draw,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “That hurt us in the first game of the season against Virginia-- we just felt like we never had the ball. The kids who were around the circle and that were in those scrum situations did a fantastic job.”

The Cavaliers were led by Megan O'Malley and Jenny Hauser on Friday, as each scored three goals. Senior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty also made eight saves for the winning cause.

Virginia now leads the all-time series with Duke, 17-6. The Blue Devils have played Virginia more than any other opponent in their history, and the Cavaliers are one of only two teams that hold more than a two-game series advantage over Duke, with the other being Princeton (4-8).

The Blue Devils now hold a 4-7 record over ranked teams and a 2-5 mark over top-10 competition this year. Duke is 2-1 this year in neutral site matchups in 2007-08.

Duke will wrap up the regular season when it travels to face No. 19 Dartmouth on Sunday, May 4. That game will face-off in Hanover, N.H., at 6:00 p.m.

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