Duke rallies, Quinzani gets winner with 12 seconds left against Virginia
The Duke Blue Devils celebatre game winning gaol against the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2010 NCAA Division 1 Lacrosse Semifinal Championship game. (May 29, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
BALTIMORE - A truly spectacular game had a truly spectacular ending last night.
Max Quinzani's fourth goal of the game, a righthanded shot from about 8 yards with 12 seconds left, gave Duke a 14-13 victory over No. 1 Virginia in the second game of the NCAA men's lacrosse semifinal doubleheader at M&T Bank Stadium. Duke will face Notre Dame at 3:30 p.m. in Monday's national championship game. Neither school has ever won the NCAA title.
A crowd of 44,389 roared its approval throughout a rollicking fourth quarter, which began with Duke (15-4) leading 9-8. The Blue Devils extended their lead to 12-8 on Quinzani's breakaway with 12:11 left, capping a 7-0 run in which Duke held Virginia (16-2) scoreless for 18:13.
But the Cavaliers did not go down easily, scoring three straight goals to make it 12-11 with 6:55 left. Then Zach Howell of Huntington scored his second of the game with 4:27 left to put Duke ahead 13-11.
Steele Stanwick answered for Virginia with his third of the game with 1:50 left and Brian Carroll scored his third on a blast from outside to knot it at 13 with 1:21 left.
After a scramble for the ground ball following the ensuing faceoff, Duke gained control and called timeout with 1:06 remaining. Ned Crotty, who leads the nation with 62 assists, found Quinzani cutting across the middle for the winner. It's a familiar hookup. Quinzani leads the nation with 68 goals, none bigger than this.
Justin Turri, a sophomore midfielder from West Islip, had the fourth hat trick of his career for Duke. Chris Bocklet led Virginia with four goals. Shamel and Rhamel Bratton of Huntington had one goal each for the Cavaliers.
The loss ends an emotional month for Virginia, which has played the entire NCAA Tournament with a murder charge against one of its players, George Huguely, hanging over the program. Police charged Huguely with first-degree murder in the May 3 death of Virginia women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love. The men's team had dedicated the rest of the season to Love.
"There are things here going on that are bigger than lacrosse games," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said in a conference call during the week. "To dismiss that these things aren't on their mind would be naive . . . It's a fairly unique set of circumstances and we're trying to deal with it the best we can."
