#14 UVa. women’s lacrosse defeats Duke in ACC Tournament

The No. 14 UVa. women’s lacrosse team (10-7) advanced to the semifinals of the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship with a 7-5 victory over No. 7 Duke (9-7) Thursday (April 24) at Boston College’s Alumni Stadium.

Virginia won all seven draw controls in the second half and held an 11-3 overall edge in draws. Junior Casey Bocklet (South Salem, N.Y.) scored three unassisted goals in the first half and also added a second-half assist. Senior goalkeeper Liz Colgan (Cockeysville, Md.), a first-team All-ACC honoree, finished the game with 10 saves, including stopping eight shots in the first half.

With the victory, fifth-seeded Virginia advances to face top-seeded Maryland (17-1) on Friday, April 25 at 1 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Regional Sports Networks and streamed online on ESPN3.

“I am proud of my team for coming out with the win today,” said Virginia head coach Julie Myers. “We are very comparable teams and both came in desperate for another win. Having lost to Duke earlier this season, we wanted to come out strong today. I think it was a battle of the minds today. Our draw controls in the second half made a huge difference. We were able to generate just enough shots to win the game, but my hat is off to Duke. They are a great team and they made everything extremely hard for us today.”

With the score tied 3-3 at the start of the second half, senior Liza Blue (Butler, Md.) scored the first goal of the period by bouncing in a shot with 18:40 remaining. Twenty-six seconds later, senior Maddy Keeshan (Greenwich, Ct.) scored on a pass from junior Courtney Swan (Vero Beach, Fla.) to give UVa a 5-3 advantage. With just under 11 minutes remaining, Keeshan picked up a ground ball, passing ahead to Bocklet who found sophomore Kelly Boyd (Baltimore, Md.) right in front of the net to give Virginia a 6-3 edge with 10:41 remaining.

After Duke scored on a free position shot, Virginia regained a three-goal advantage on a score from junior Daniela Eppler (Baltimore, Md.) with 4:11 remaining. The Blue Devils scored with 2:30 remaining, but Eppler won the ensuing draw control. The Cavaliers were able to withstand Duke’s defensive pressure, holding onto possession and running out the clock.

Duke outshot the Cavaliers 16-9 in the first half, but both teams took nine shots in the second period. Each team had 13 ground balls with Eppler picking up three and Colgan corralling four.

This was the second-straight season in which Virginia advanced to the ACC semifinals with a victory over Duke. In last year’s ACC Tournament, Virginia downed Duke, 10-7. Virginia fell 16-11 earlier this season at Duke.

Maryland advanced to the semifinals after defeating Virginia Tech 14-9 in the opening game of the ACC Tournament. In the regular-season meeting at Maryland on April 13, the Terps defeated the Cavaliers 13-8.

Virginia is looking for its sixth ACC Tournament title and first since earning a 10-9 overtime victory over Maryland in the 2008 championship game. The Cavaliers have advanced to the semifinals each of the last three seasons and have won at least one game in 14 of 18 ACC Tournaments.