Looking Back at Some of the Best of Duke – UVA Matchups

The Duke – Virginia matchup has been a bit one-sided since John Danowski's first season at the helm in 2007. The Blue Devils hold an incredible 18-2 overall record against the Cavaliers and are 12-0 in regular season games. Duke's two setbacks came in the ACC semifinal in 2010 and in the NCAA semifinal in 2019 as Virginia played its way to the NCAA title.
Duke has not only dominated the series 18-1 since 2007, it has done so convincingly. The Blue Devils' average margin of victory in the 18 wins is 5.3 goals. The game often have been thrilling and have featured comebacks as well as plenty of goals.

May 29, 2010 | Duke Edges Top-Ranked Virginia in NCAA Semifinal Thriller
Max Quinzani delivered the game-winning goal with 12 seconds remaining as the Blue Devils upset top-ranked Virginia, 14-13, in front of 44,389 fans NCAA semifinal at M&T Bank Stadium.

Watch Winning Goal

"We ended up going in front of the goal, playing a little cat and mouse - [Justin Turri] and [Adam] Ghitelman. I came around, wasn't able to get a shot, but was able to get my hands free," Ned Crotty said. "Obviously, I like going to Max, so I was looking at the field, I saw him make a cut and kind of threw it behind the guy's head. And Max was there just in time and stuck it."

Quinzani finished with four goals while Turri tied a career high with three scores on the night.

After Duke used a 3-0 run early in the fourth quarter to go ahead 12-8, Virginia mounted a comeback effort. After being held scoreless for 18:13, the Cavaliers put together a 3-0 run over a span of 3:41 to pull back within one at, 12-11.

The Blue Devils stopped the Virginia spurt as Howell and Steve Schoeffel connected to make it a 13-11 score at the 4:27 mark. The Cavaliers answered with back-to-back goals by Stanwick and Carroll to tie the game at 13 with less than two minutes remaining.

Costabile won a critical faceoff for Duke, and Crotty found Quinzani for the game-winning goal with 12 seconds remaining.

April 29, 2007 | Duke Claims 2007 ACC Title with 12-9 Win Over Virginia
Zack Greer had three goals and three assists and Matt Danowski added three goals and an assist to lead Duke to a 12-9 win over Virginia to claim the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship at Koskinen Stadium. It was the fourth ACC title for the Blue Devils and first since 2002.

It was a low scoring affair in the first half with the Cavaliers taking a 4-3 advantage into halftime. Duke opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run to jump ahead 8-4 and never looked back. Virginia brought it within two a couple of times, but couldn't get any closer.

On the defensive side of the field, Dan Loftus was outstanding in goal for Duke, making 14 saves, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. Danowski garnered ACC Tournament MVP honors.

April 13, 2019 | Second-Half Surge Lifts No. 6 Duke over No. 4 Virginia
Sixth-ranked Duke outscored Virginia 7-2 in the second half to come away with a 12-7 victory over the fourth-ranked Cavaliers in the ACC regular season finale for both teams.

The game was supposed to start at noon, but Mother Nature had a different idea as storms started to roll in. The two teams retreated to their locker rooms for four-and-a-half hours before resuming action at Koskinen.

Both teams were raring to go after the long wait, which included another meal and music and lacrosse strategy. It was a seesaw battle throughout with teams trading goals and short runs and neither team holding more than a one-goal advantage in the first half.

After a slow start to the third quarter for both teams, Virginia took a 6-5 led at the eight-minute mark before Duke took over with six unanswered goals for the 11-6 lead with 4:02 left in the fourth period. Defensively, the Blue Devils held the Cavaliers without a goal for 20:15.

CJ Carpenter and Joe Robertson were the catalysts on offense with four points apiece. Duke forced Virginia into 17 turnovers, including seven in the fourth quarter and held it to only 32 shots in the game and just 10 in the second half.

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April 12, 2013 | Dionne & Fowler Lead No. 7 Duke Past Virginia
Josh Dionne scored five goals, while Brendan Fowler won 19-of-30 faceoffs to lead seventh-ranked Duke to a 19-16 home victory over Virginia in front 3,072 spectators at Koskinen Stadium. Jake Tripucka added a career-high seven points for the Blue Devils in the win.

"Josh has been tremendously consistent from day one," said John Danowski. "He really is just extremely coachable. He's a sponge and he's just gained confidence each week. Jake is perhaps one of our best athletes. There really is nothing he can't do and offensively we've been waiting for a night like this from Jake."

The first half featured four lead changes as the teams battled to a 9-9 score at intermission. Jordan Wolf capped a 3-0 run to put the Blue Devils ahead 8-5 early in the second period, but Virginia closed the half with four markers while allowing just one to send the teams to the locker room deadlocked, 9-9.

The Cavaliers stormed out of halftime to claim a 13-9 lead just over five minutes into the third quarter. Duke responded with three straight goals before Virginia closed the quarter with a goal to make the score 14-12 after 45 minutes of play.

The Blue Devils took over in the fourth period by scoring seven unanswered goals. In all, Duke utilized a 10-1 run to erase the 13-9 deficit and go in front, 19-14, on Dionne's tally with 3:50 left in the contest. The Cavaliers scored a pair of man-advantage goals in the final 2:19 to account for the final 19-16 margin.

April 22, 2011 - Duke Advances to ACC Championship; Beats Virginia 19-10
Sixth-ranked Duke outscored No. 10 Virginia 12-1 over nearly 23 minutes en route to a 19-10 victory over the fourth-seeded Cavaliers in the ACC semifinal in 2011.

The Blue Devils and Cavaliers traded goals throughout at the start with Virginia leading 4-3 after the opening period. Jake Tripucka tied it up 2:03 into the second period to spark an 11-1 run over the next 20 minutes. Seven different Blue Devils notched goals in the stretch and four players had two goals apiece as Duke pulled ahead 14-5 midway through the third quarter.

April 11, 2014 | Duke Earns ACC Regular Title with 17-15 Win Over Virginia
Myles Jones scored four goals and added two assists to lead No. 2 Duke to a 17-15 road win over No. 8 Virginia at Klöckner Stadium. The victory gave the Blue Devils at least a share of the ACC regular season championship.

Back and forth lacrosse highlighted a first quarter that featured three ties and two lead changes. Duke opened the scoring 1:13 into the game on a Jones score and the blue Devils and Cavaliers traded goals over the next 13 minutes as Virginia 4-3 lead at the end of the opening stanza.

Virginia added two goals to Duke's one early in the second quarter for a 6-4 lead before the Blue Devils offense got hot. Sparked by Jordan Wolf's goal at the 10:52 mark, Duke scored four goals in a 5:02 span to grab its first two-goal lead of the game and a 10-7 lead at the half.

The Duke offense continued to roll in the third period as the Blue Devils tacked on three more goals for a 13-8 lead late in the quarter. The Cavaliers would pull within two goals at 13-11, but Duke responded with a pair of Josh Dionne markers for a 15-11 advantage early in the final quarter. Virginia then used a 4-2 spurt to make the score 17-15 with 2:29 remaining, but Duke stopped the rally for the win.

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