No. 9 Duke Closes Regular Season at Virginia

Gameday Details

Duke and Virginia face off Saturday, April 26 at 3 p.m., at Klöckner Stadium on ACC Network. For full gameday and stadium details are available here.

The Opening Faceoff

Duke moved to 10-4 following a commanding 11-7 win over No. 7 Syracuse at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils held the Orange scoreless in the first and third quarters and were led on offense by Eric Malever's five goals. Patrick Jameison had 13 saves, including seven in the fourth quarter to thwart a Syracuse comeback.
Virginia enters its regular season finale with a 6-7 overall record and an 0-2 mark in ACC play. The Cavaliers had a break in ACC action last weekend, beating Lafayette, 13-8. Truitt Sunderland and McCabe Millon pace the attack with 48 (29g, 19a) and 46 points (22g, 24a), respectively. Ryan Colsey rounds out the attack unit with 39 points (28g, 11a). Ben Wayer is the defensive leader with 17 caused turnovers and 68 ground balls. Matthew Nunes has played the majority of minutes in goal, sporting a 10.94 goals against average and a .497 save percentage. Andrew Greenspan and Anthony Ghobriel share faceoff duties with the Cavaliers sitting at 49.5 percent at the dot.
Duke and Virginia meet for the 90th time with the Cavaliers leading the series 51-38. The Blue Devils, however, are 24-2 since 2005 with both setbacks coming in postseason play.

By the Numbers
169 - Career points for senior captain Andrew McAdorey (103g, 66a) - 26th in Duke history
7 - Duke's most recent RPI rating. Duke has played or will play current RPI Nos. 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 26 and 29 with three top-15 wins
1.86 - Caused turnovers per game average for Charlie Johnson, leading the ACC overall
50 - Combined caused turnovers for Maguire and Johnson this season, ranking tied for fifth for a defensive duo in Duke history
24-2 - Duke's record against Virginia since 2005 with the two setbacks coming in the 2010 ACC semifinal and 2019 NCAA semifinal
56 - Points for graduate student Eric Malever this season - eight more than his previous career best of 48 at Maryland in 2022
34 - Points for Max Sloat this season, seven more than he had in 19 games last year
8 - Opponents Duke has held to single digits this season, including each of the past three
.272 - Virginia's shot percentage this season, ranking 52nd nationally
.288 – Duke's opponent shooting percentage this season, holding eight teams under 30 percent shooting in a game

Series History

Duke and Virginia meet for the 90th time with the Cavaliers leading the series 51-38. The Blue Devils, however, are 24-2 since 2005 and have won 19 straight regular season matchups. The two setbacks came in the 2010 ACC semifinals and 2019 NCAA semifinals.
The two teams are averaging a combined 27.8 goals in the past five meetings with Duke winning by 3.8 goals per game. Three of Duke's wins since 2021 have come by two or fewer goals.

Duke vs. Virginia Numbers in the Past 20 Years

Since 2005, Duke and Virginia have met 26 times with Duke going 24-2 in those matchups. Duke is 19-0 in the regular season meetings in that span and 5-2 in postseason matchups.
Five of the games have been decided by one goal, including the last matchup in Charlottesville. Twelve of Duke's 24 wins have come by at least five goals with three being 10-goal victories. Duke's average margin of victories since 2004 is 5.33 goals.
Many of the past 26 meetings have been high scoring affairs. The two powerhouse programs are averaging a combined 25 goals. The lowest combined goal total was 13, a 7-6 overtime win for Duke in 2005.
Duke is 9-0 in games in Charlottesville since and scores an average of 14.9 goals per game and allows 10.4 per outing at Klöckner.

A Win Over Virginia Would ...

Be head coach John Danowski's 483rd career win
Be Danowski's 264th win at Duke
Put Duke at 2-2 in ACC play and a spot in the ACC Tournament
Make Duke 4-1 in true road games this season
Give Duke at least 11 wins for the 27th year and the 19th consecutive complete season

ACC Tournament Scenarios

Both Virginia and Duke enter Saturday's contest needing a win to advance to the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils are 1-2 in conference action and the Cavaliers are 0-3. A win by Duke clinches either the three or four seed while a Virginia triumph gives the Cavaliers the head-to-head win over the Blue Devils for the final spot in the postseason event.
A Duke win coupled with a North Carolina victory gives the Blue Devils the No. 3 seed and an ACC semifinal matchup against the Tar Heels. A Syracuse victory gives the Orange the top seed and Duke the No. 4 spot, resulting in a semifinal rematch between the Blue Devils and Syracuse.

Lockdown Defense

Defensively, Duke has held an opponent without a goal for at least 10 minutes 18 times, including a season-long drought of 25:45 against Penn and a trio of 10-plus minute droughts at Boston University and versus North Carolina.

Defense to Offense

Duke's defensive unit not only is holding teams to just over nine goals per game, it is generating offense with 14 goals and 10 assists coming from defensive poles or shortsticks this season.
Mac Christmas has seven goals already this year, tying CJ Costabile for the most for a pole in a season. He also became the first Duke pole to record multiple goals in a game since Costabile did so in the NCAA quarterfinal win over North Carolina in 2010.
Last season, the Blue Devils had 14 goals and seven assists from defensive players in 19 games, including an assist from goaltender Patrick Jameison.

Up Next

The winner of Saturday's game earns a spot in the ACC Tournament May 2-4 against an opponent to be determined.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's lacrosse, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMLAX".
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No. 9 Duke Closes Regular Season at Virginia

Players Mentioned

Mac Christmas

Patrick Jameison

Charlie Johnson

Eric Malever

Andrew McAdorey

Max Sloat

Duke information

No. 9 Duke Closes Regular Season at Virginia

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Players Mentioned

Mac Christmas

Patrick Jameison

Charlie Johnson

Eric Malever

Andrew McAdorey

Max Sloat

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Duke information