No. 4 UVA Drops Heartbreaker in OT to No. 3 Duke, 13-12

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.  – The No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers (9-3, 2-3 ACC) dropped a heartbreaker in overtime, 13-12, to the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils (10-1, 3-1 ACC) on Thursday night at Klöckner Stadium. Duke scored the game’s final three goals, including two in the fourth quarter to force overtime. The Blue Devils held UVA scoreless for the final 14:24 of regulation as well as 3:28 in overtime to secure the win.

In the closing seconds of regulation, Payton Cormier found Charlie Bertrand on the doorstep on what appeared to be the game-winning score. However, Bertrand was charged with falling inside the goal mouth after the ball found nylon, negating the score.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UVA won the overtime faceoff and after each defense came up with big saves, Dox Aitken was stripped of the ball on offense and Duke was off in transition. Joe Robertson dodged from X to score the unassisted goal with 32 seconds left in the first overtime to secure the win.

The Cavaliers took a narrow 12-10 lead on the heels of a 4-1 UVA run over the third and fourth quarters. After Michael Sowers gave Duke a 9-8 lead with an unassisted goal with 7:15 left in the third, Petey LaSalla won the ensuing faceoff and scored seven seconds later to start the streak. Matt Moore scored an unassisted goal with 14:24 left in regulation on an inside roll dodge to cap the streak.

Duke’s Brennan O’Neill started the Blue Devils’ final 3-0 spurt with a goal at 9:55 in the fourth, followed by Garret Leadmon’s game-tying goal with 1:45 in regulation.

UVA STAT LEADERS
• M Charlie Bertrand
3 goals

• M Dox Aitken
3 goals

• M Petey LaSalla
1 goal, 12 GBs, 18-of-27 FO

NOTES
• With three goals, Dox Aitken passed Michael Kraus (131) for No. 7 all-time at UVA in career goals (133).
• Petey LaSalla won 18 faceoffs to give him 200 for the year. He is the only Cavalier in program history to win 200+ faceoffs in multiple seasons. He also won 216 in 2019. His 200 faceoff wins ranks No. 4 all-time on UVA’s single-game list.
• With two goals, Matt Moore passed Jay Connor (203) for No. 12 all-time at UVA in career points. Moore now has 204 career points.
• Dox Aitken and Jared Conners played in their 71st career game, which ties Bray Malphrus (2008-11) for the UVA record for career games played.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
“What a tremendous lacrosse game. There were so many super-talented players on that field for both teams, and you saw two teams in an absolute slugfest, battling. I’m really fortunate to coach a team that was willing to grind out the extra groundballs, gain us extra possessions, and I’m really happy with our commitment to laying it all out there and playing with trust and confidence in our teammates.”-Lars Tiffany

UP NEXT
UVA returns to action on Saturday when the Cavaliers host Utah. Faceoff is set for noon and the game will be televised live on ESPNU.