No. 3 Duke Hosts No. 5 Virginia in Top-Five ACC Showdown

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia women’s lacrosse team will face a quick turnaround and head to Durham, N.C., for a top-five showdown with conference-foe No. 3 Duke on Saturday. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium. Live statistics will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

The Cavaliers (6-3) will look to rebound from a 10-9 loss to No. 20 James Madison Wednesday night. The Dukes used three-unanswered goals to close out the game, including a game-winning score with 11 seconds remaining, to defeat the Cavaliers. Senior All-American Brittany Kalkstein led Virginia in the contest with three goals and an assist.

For the season, senior All-American Kaitlin Duff leads a balanced attack with 19 goals and 11 assists, while five Cavaliers have contributed 15 goals each – redshirt sophomore Ainsley Baker, sophomores Charlie Finnigan, Julie Gardner and Josie Owen, in addition to Kalkstein. Senior Caity Whiteley has added 13 for Virginia’s offense.

Defensively, Kalkstein has a team-high 44 draw controls, 19 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers. In goal, redshirt junior Lauren Benner has stopped 49.5 percent of shots faced, while allowing 8.59 goals per game.

Duke has only lost one contest this season, a 17-4 setback against No. 2 Maryland on Feb. 27. Since then, the Blue Devils have won five-straight contests and bring an overall record of 9-1 into Saturday’s game. Sarah Bullard leads Duke with 29 goals, while Christie Kaestner has a team-high 40 points on 21 goals and 19 assists. Mollie Mackler leads the team with 24 ground balls, while Kat Thomas has won 38 draw controls. Bullard leads the team with 22 caused turnovers.

In goal for the Blue Devils, Mackler has compiled a 6-1 record, stopping 48.8 percent of shots faced, while allowing 9.00 goals per game.

In the all-time series between the two programs, the Cavaliers hold the advantage at 17-8. The two have faced at least twice every year since 2001 and every year since 1996.

During regular season meetings, the Cavaliers hold the slight advantage, at 8-6. Throughout 11 of those 14 contests, the road team has come away with the win, including the last five-straight contests and nine of the last 10.

Up next, the Cavaliers will have another midweek game against an in-state opponent, as Old Dominion heads to Charlottesville for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday night.