Virginia's Lacrosse Season Ends With Last-Second Semifinal Loss to Duke

BALTIMORE -- Even for those who do not follow college lacrosse religiously, losses don't come much more deflating than the one Virginia's men's team endured Saturday night at the Final Four.

The No. 1-ranked Cavaliers led throughout the first half, were up 8-5 a little over a minute into the second half, then gave up the next seven goals and trailed fifth-seeded Duke 12-8 with 12 minutes to go in the game. Yet Virginia roared back to tie it at 13 with 1:21 to go.

Then Duke slammed the door on any more dreams of Virginia reaching the championship game -- and extending a season they had dedicated to a slain teammate in the women's program -- when senior Max Quinzani scored with 12 seconds to go, breaking the tie and handing the Blue Devils a 14-13 victory that was as draining for both sides as it was for the crowd of 44,389 at M&T Bank Stadium.

When the game clock reached zero, with Duke hanging onto possession and the players charging onto the field to celebrate, the Virginia players walked dejectedly to the other end of the field to console each other and goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman. Some players sank into a squat or onto their knees on the field.

Duke (15-4) moves on to play Notre Dame, a 12-7 winner over Cornell in the first semifinal, for the national championship Monday afternoon.

Virginia's last three games, all in the NCAA tournament, had been played under the cloud of Yeardley Love's death on May 3 in her off-campus apartment. George Huguely, a senior defenseman, was arrested that day and charged in her murder and has been in jail in Charlottesville since then. On Saturday, the players again wore a black patch with Love's initials and uniform number -- "Y.L. 1'' -- on their jerseys. They had routed Mount St. Mary's in their tournament opener, then barely held off Stony Brook in last week's quarterfinal to reach the Final Four in Baltimore, Love's hometown.

Senior midfielder Brian Carroll, also a Baltimore native, scored the tying goal for Virginia with 1:21 left, to cap the Cavs' furious rally. But after a Duke timeout with 1:06 left, the Blue Devils gained possession after a faceoff, held the ball behind the net until the clock ticked under 20 seconds. Then senior Ned Crotty circled out and fed Quinzani, who curled to the right of the goal and shot it past Ghitelman for his fourth goal of the game.

After a Virginia timeout with eight seconds left, the Cavs were offsides as they put the ball in play, all but sealing the outcome.

Virginia finished 16-2, both of its losses to Duke -- which is on a redemption quest of its own. This is its fifth Final Four in six years -- and the only time it missed was 2006, when its season was canceled amidst the infamous rape investigation, in which the charges against three players were eventually dropped. Crotty is one of seven Duke players remaining from that 2006 season.

The Cavaliers got three goals and two assists from sophomore attacker Steele Stanwick, who like Carroll, is a Baltimore native.