No. 3 Duke Travels to No. 4 Virginia Thursday

Thursday, April 15

Charlottesville, Va.

7 P.M.

Duke University

Virginia

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 3 Duke Travels to No. 4 Virginia Thursday

4/14/2021 8:17:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Watch | ACCN Game Notes Live Stats Twitter

The Opening Faceoff

Duke is 10-1, its second best start through 11 games in program history. The 2005 squad went 11-0 before suffering its first loss. The Blue Devils dropped to No. 3 in the USILA poll following the setback at Notre Dame last Saturday.
Freshman Brennan O'Neill recorded a hat trick and senior Nakeie Montgomery dished out four assists, but 22 turnovers ultimately proved to be too much to overcome against the Irish. Mike Adler made 11 saves in the setback, while Jake Naso won 16-of-22 at the X.
Thursday's matchup will be the fourth straight week the Blue Devils will be embroiled in a top-five battle with another ACC program. It will be the 15th time these two teams will meet with both ranked in the top-five.
Duke is 18-2 in the past 20 meetings and hasn't lost in the regular season to the Cavaliers since 2004.
The matchup between the Blue Devils and Cavaliers pits two talented offenses against each other. Duke has the nation's No. 3 scoring offense and Virginia sits at No. 6. The Blue Devils are 11th in scoring defense after giving up 13 at Notre Dame. It will be a battle at the faceoff X between Duke's Naso, the ACC leader, and Virginia junior Petey LaSalla, who ranks third in the league.

Duke – Virginia by the Numbers
21 – Assists needed for Michael Sowers to break Pat Spencer's NCAA career assists mark of 231
.673 – Rookie Jake Naso's faceoff percentage, first in the ACC
4.00 – Joe Robertson's points per game average against ACC teams this season
1 – Point Nakeie Montgomery needs to join Duke's 100-point club
15.09 – Virignia's scoring average, sixth in the country
9.27 - Goals allowed per game by Duke's defense, 11th among Division I programs
15.73 – Duke's scoring average, third nationally
14 – Previous top-five meetings between Duke and Virginia with Duke going 8-6 overall
17 – Of the past 20 matchups, both Duke and Virginia have been ranked in the top 10

Duke Meets Virginia in Top 5 Showdown

For the fourth straight week, the Blue Devils will face a top-five ACC program. Duke landed at No. 3 in the USILA poll following its loss, while Virginia bumped up to No. 4 with a win over UNC.
Thursday night's contest will be the 15th time these two programs will meet when ranked in the top five. Duke is 5-1 when ranked higher in those games and is 8-6 overall. Eight of the 14 top-five showdowns have come since 2007 with the Blue Devils going 6-2. The two losses were in postseason action.
In a testament to the success of both the Blue Devils and Cavaliers, this will be the 17th time the two will play as top-10 opponents in the past 20 outings and the 32nd time since rankings started in 1973.

Scouting Virginia

Virginia enters Thursday night at 9-2 following its win over North Carolina. The Cavaliers two setbacks came against North Carolina and Syracuse. They defeated Notre Dame, 12-11, at the end of March.
Like Duke, Virginia features one of the country's top offenses. The Cavaliers are averaging 15.09 goals per game to rank sixth nationally. Matt Moore and Connor Shellenberger lead the offense with 4.40 and 4.27 points per game, respectively. Payton Cormier is the top goal scorer with 32.
Defensively, the Cavaliers are giving up 12.00 goals per game to rank fourth in the ACC. Virginia holds opponents to just .288 shooting but allows foes to take 41.7 shots per game. Kyle Kology is the top takeaway artist with 19 caused turnovers, while Jared Conners has 15. Conners is also great off the ground with 49 ground balls. In goal, Alex Rode has started nine games and owns a 12.50 goals against average and a .523 save percentage.
At the X, Petey LaSalla is third in the ACC with a .659 win percentage (182-276) and has 87 ground balls. He also has six goals and five assists, making him a scoring threat off the draw.
Special teams have not been exceptional for Virginia as it is scoring on just 32 percent of its man-up opportunities and allowing a goal on nearly 37 percent of man-down situations. The Cavaliers rank 35th and 44th nationally in the respective categories.

What Gives?

Thursday's contest features a Virginia offense that is coming off an 18-goal outing against North Carolina. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils sport a 9.23 goals against average and have allowed double-digit goals in five of 11 games. The most allowed by Duke this season was 14 versus Syracuse.
Individually, Jake Naso will face off against Petey LaSalla. Naso leads the league with a .673 win percentage at the dot and LaSalla is at .659. Naso is winning an average of 15.2 faceoffs per game, while LaSalla is at 16.5.
On the defensive side of the ball for Duke, JT Giles-Harris and Kenny Brower will team up to try to keep the attack duo of Connor Shellenberger and Matt Moore from their combined 8.27 points per game average.

Duke Against Top 10 Foes

When Duke and Virginia meet Thursday, it will be the 113th time the Blue Devils have played a top-10 opponent since 2007. Duke is 70-42 in the games and Duke is 43-18 when ranked higher.
Duke and Virginia are playing for the 15th time with both programs ranked in the top five and for the 32nd time as top-10 foes. Duke is 5-1 when ranked higher in the top-five matchups.

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