No. 7 Duke Rallies in the Fourth Quarter to Trump UVa in Durham, 19-16
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April 12, 2013
DURHAM, N.C. – Mark Cockerton scored six goals and Matt White tallied four, but it wasn’t enough as the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils (10-4, 2-1 ACC) used a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to dispatch of the Virginia Cavaliers (5-7, 0-3 ACC) on Friday night, 19-16, in front of 3,072 fans at Koskinen Stadium. Virginia is in the midst of a six-game losing streak, the first time the Cavaliers have lost six games in a row in the same season since 1939. The six-game slide is the first for UVa since a two-year span from 1965-66.
Cockerton tallied his 10th career hat trick and sixth of the season, while also tying his career high for goals. Cockerton also scored six goals against VMI and Mount St. Mary’s.
With the loss Virginia secured the No. 4 seed in the ACC Championship and will play Maryland, the No. 1 seed on Friday, April 26, inside North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium at 5 p.m. The entire tournament will be televised live on ESPNU in HD.
“I am really proud of our effort overall,” said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. “When the game turned a little bit there at the end of the third (quarter) and into the fourth – that’s when they started winning faceoffs – they are very good when the ball is on the ground and they turn those into scoring opportunities. Too many times they beat us (on the ground) in the unsettled game. I give our kids a lot of credit for a valiant effort and we just need to keep plugging away.”
Duke scored quickly in an explosive first quarter for both teams, as David Lawson scored 49 seconds into the game to give the Blue Devils the early 1-0 advantage. Virginia answered quickly to take a 2-1 lead. White scored on a Nick O’Reilly pass at 13:33, and then O’Reilly scored on a White pass at 11:24.
The Blue Devils retorted with a streak of their own, scoring three goals in a row to take a 4-2 lead. Jordan Wolf, Josh Offit and Case Matheis all scored during the run. Matheis goal on a Lawson helper capped the run at 7:53.
The Cavaliers ended the first stanza on a 3-1 run to tie the game at 5-5. White scored first and after a goal by Josh Dionne, Ryan Tucker and Rob Emery evened the game with 10 seconds left.
Duke responded with a 3-0 run to start the second quarter, giving itself an 8-5 advantage. Wolf finished the run with his second goal of the game with 12:30 left in the second quarter. UVa stormed into the intermission on a 4-1 run, tying the game 9-9 at halftime. Owen Van Arsdale started the streak with 9:03 remaining in the second quarter, while Cockerton added his first two scores and White posted one.
UVa started the second half on a 4-0 run to take a 13-9 lead. Cockerton scored three times during the spurt and O’Reilly added another goal. O’Reilly found Cockerton at 9:56 to cap the run.
Duke scored three goals in a row to pull within one goal, 13-12. Offit capped the run at 5:16. Emery scored unassisted off a dodge to finish off the third quarter scoring and gave UVa a narrow 14-12 lead heading into the game’s final frame.
Duke was nearly perfect in all aspects of the fourth quarter, winning all nine faceoffs, seven of which led directly to the seven goals of the Blue Devils’ game-deciding 7-0 run. Virginia was held scoreless till the 2:19 mark when White finally broke through on an extra-man situation. Cockerton capped the game’s scoring on a man-up situation with 56 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough as Duke held on to the three-goal advantage and ran out the clock.
Duke outshot UVa 55-40, including 17-6 in the fourth quarter. UVa lost the ground ball battle 44-37, including 13-3 in the fourth quarter. Rhody Heller made a career-high 16 saves in the cage for Virginia.
The Cavaliers return to action on Saturday, April 20, when Bellarmine comes Klöckner Stadium for Senior Day. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m.