No. 13 Duke Captures 17-8 Win Over No. 6 Virginia

Thursday, April 14

Durham, N.C.

1 PM

Duke University

10-5, 2-2

Virginia

8-3, 4-1

Virginia

Duke University

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 13 Duke Captures 17-8 Win Over No. 6 Virginia

4/14/2022 5:38:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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DURHAM – Duke sophomore Brennan O'Neill registered eight points and the Duke defense held No. 6 Virginia to just eight goals to capture a crucial 17-8 victory in ACC men's lacrosse action Thursday afternoon.

The 13th-ranked Blue Devils led wire to wire and built the lead to as many as nine goals to push their record to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in league action. Graduate student goaltender Mike Adler was outstanding, matching his career high with 20 saves and just eight goals allowed.

Duke's victory marks the 16th consecutive ACC regular season victory against the Cavaliers. Duke has not lost to Virginia in regular season play since 2004. O'Neill finished with four goals and a career-best four assists to finish one off his career-high of nine points. He has 32 points in the past five games.

The eight goals scored by Virginia marks the first time this season the Cavaliers have failed to reach double digits. It is the sixth time this season the Blue Devils have held a team to single digits. Duke held Virginia's Connor Shellenberg – the nation's fifth-ranked scorer– to two assists. He came into the game averaging 5.60 points per game and was held without a goal for the first time this season.

Freshman Reed Landin finished his day with three goals, his second consecutive hat trick, while junior Dyson Williams had his ninth hat trick of the season. The Blue Devils had nine different goal scorers and 13 different players with at least one point. Senior Owen Caputo broke out for a goal and two assists for a season-high three points.

Defensively, the Blue Devils held Virginia to just 16 percent shooting, scoring eight goals on 49 shots. Duke also forced 12 turnovers and won the ground ball battle 39-30 despite winning five fewer faceoffs.

The first quarter was nip and tuck as both teams had chances to get on the board early. The Blue Devils finally broke through at the 5:04 mark as O'Neill fired home a Garrett Leadmon pass for his 46th goal of the season. O'Neill made it 2-0 just 34 seconds later, before Virginia capitalized on its lone man-up opportunity of the afternoon with 19 ticks remaining to make it 2-1 after 15 minutes.

The second quarter was all Blue Devils as they built a three-goal lead with markers from Landin and O'Neill. Virginia's Matt Moore made it a two-goal contest, but the Cavaliers never got any closer as Duke scored three of the next four for a 7-3 halftime lead. Moore led all Virginia scorers with two goals.

In the second period, Duke outshot the Cavaliers, 11-9, and dominated in ground balls, 13-7.

Duke continued to pull away in the third quarter, using a three-goal spurt in the final 4:43 for a 13-5 advantage heading into the final stanza. The Blue Devils had five different goal scorers in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter was highlighted by sophomore Aidan Danenza's first marker of the game and freshman Nick Potemski garnering his first point as a Blue Devil with an assist to Connor Drake. The goal was the first for Drake in 2022.

A total team effort on defense, Duke was led statistically by Will Frisoli with three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Tyler Carpenter had a caused turnover, four ground balls and a goal. Playing high minutes for the first time this season, Jack Zukowski finished with two ground balls and held Payton Cormier to only one assist.

Jake Naso won 12-of-28 faceoffs and picked up 12 ground balls. Virginia goaltender Matthew Nunes had eight saves in 53 minutes of action.

The Blue Devils have an extended break and play against May 1 against North Carolina. Faceoff is set for 5:30 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium.

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