Field hockey: No. 4 Virginia defeats No. 5 Duke in ACC Championship opener

Virginia scored less than five minutes into the contest and added four more scores as the fourth-seeded Cavaliers defeated fifth-seeded Duke 5-1 in the first round of the 2015 ACC Field Hockey Championship in Charlottesville, Va.

The win sends Virginia to the semifinals, where it will face top-seeded Syracuse on Friday at 1 p.m.

Greta Ell opened the scoring 3:30 into the contest on an unassisted strike from the right side of the cage before Lucy Hyams scored her first of two goals off of a rebound to give Virginia a 2-0 lead at the break.

Virginia’s Riley Tata, Tara Vittese and Hyams each scored unassisted goals in the second half to extend the lead to 5-0 before Duke’s Alexa Mackintire put the Blue Devils on the board with just over three minutes left to play.

Virginia held a 22-15 advantage in shots and had seven penalty corners to Duke’s five. Rebecca Holden recorded eight saves in the win for the Cavaliers, while Duke’s Lauren Blazing finished with four stops.

With the win, the Cavaliers move to 18-32 all-time and 8-5 against the Blue Devils in ACC Tournament play.