Virginia's national title dreams came to a disappointing end on Saturday, falling 14-13 to Duke, a team that has proven to be just nearly unsurmountable for the Cavaliers. The 'Hoos were up by as much as 8-5 before Duke put together a 7-goal run that left Virginia fans everywhere slamming beer steins on the table in anger in the middle of a crowded bar wherein one table was watching lacrosse and all the others were watching either the NBA or NHL playoffs, with the other guests staring at them in bewilderman. What, was that just me?
Finally, after the Dirty Blue Devils put together their impressive 7-0 run, the Hoos constructed a 3-goal run of their own to pull within 12-11. With under two minutes to go and the score tied up at 14, you couldn't help but to be quite pleased with the Virginia Fight you saw in those boys. For just a quick minute, you would've thought this game was about to be settled in extra minutes. You would have been wrong, because Duke managed to find the back fo the cage with just 12 seconds to go.
Virginia called a time out with only eight seconds left to put together what they hoped to be the great equalizer. Unfortunately, an offsides call gave the ball back to Duke, along with a trip to the national championship game.
The play that stands out in my mind is when the ball was LODGED in Adam Ghitelman's facemask, and yet there was NO STOPPAGE OF PLAY. NO STOPPAGE OF PLAY! What's a guy to do? He can't take the ball out because, well, you can't use your hand. You know what you can do though, apparently? Take the crosse and just keep jabbing it at a goalie's face in some masked attempt to get the ball out. I call BS.
Our season came to an end with a 16-2 record, the second-best finish in Virginia history, only one win short of tying the undefeated 2006 season.