No. 7 Duke Hosts No. 16 Virginia in ACC Battle

Saturday, April 4

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia

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Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 7 Duke Hosts No. 16 Virginia in ACC Battle

4/3/2026 2:46:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes Watch Live Stats

The Opening Faceoff

Duke opens its ACC home slate Saturday against Virginia. The No. 7 Blue Devils are coming off a one-goal loss at Syracuse, while the Cavaliers posted a victory against No. 1 Notre Dame.
The Blue Devils are 8-1 and ranked No. 7 in the USILA poll and eighth by USA Lacrosse magazine and Inside Lacrosse. Virginia is 6-4 and ranked 16th by the coaches and 14th by Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine.
Junior Benn Johnston paces the offense with 30 goals and five assists for 35 points. Kyle Colsey is right behind him with 21 goals and seven assists for 28 points, while the trio of Brady Scioletti, Max Sloat and Liam Kershis pace the midfield with 26, 21 and 18, respectively. Mencke has a team-high 13 assists and Michael Ortlieb rounds out the attack trio with 16 goals and nine assists for 25 points.
The Blue Devils' stalwart defense is proving why it's considered one of the best in the country, holding teams to 7.89 goals and to just 29.3 shots per game. Charlie Johnson (13), Henry Bard (11), Will Pedicano (11) and Aidan Maguire (10) have combined for 45 caused turnovers and 68 ground balls. Johnson and Bard lead the close defense off the ground with 18 and 15 ground balls, respectively. In goal, Patrick Jameison has a 6.90 goals against average and a .541 save percentage.

By the Numbers
34 - Percent of Duke's points this season that have come from rookies
20 - Consecutive regular season games Duke has won against Virginia, with the Cavaliers' last regular season win coming April 17, 2004 - a span of 8,022 days
1 - Point needed for junior Benn Johnston to reach the 100-point benchmark
2.33 - Goals per game games for Kyle Colsey - the highest average of any first-year player in the ACC
2.20 - Goals per game games for Virginia freshman Brendan Millon - right behind Colsey
.335 - Virginia's shot percentage - highest in the ACC and sixth nationally
.257 - Duke's opponent shot percentage in 2026 - second best in the ACC
.729 - Duke's opponent clear percentage this season, ranking third nationally
.860 - Virginia's clear percentage - the lowest in the ACC and 33rd nationally
33 - Percent increase in faceoff success for junior Cal Girard this season, going from 47 percent in 2025 to 62 percent in 2026

Series History

Duke and Virginia meet for the 91st time with the Cavaliers leading the series 51-39. The Blue Devils, however, are 25-2 since 2005 and have won 20 straight regular season matchups. The two setbacks came in the 2010 ACC semifinals and 2019 NCAA semifinals.
The two teams are averaging a combined 26.6 goals in the past five meetings with Duke winning by 3.8 goals per game. Four of Duke's past six wins have come by two or fewer goals with two of those going into overtime.
Under head coach John Danowski, Duke is 12-0 at home against Virginia and has won by an average of 4.3 goals per game. The Blue Devils last lost to Virginia in Durham in 2003.

Duke vs. Virginia Numbers in the Past 20 Years

Since 2005, Duke and Virginia have met 27 times with Duke going 25-2 in those matchups. Duke is 20-0 in the regular season meetings in that span and 5-2 in postseason matchups.
Six of the games have been decided by one goal, including last year's 10-9 battle in Charlottesville. Twelve of Duke's 25 wins have come by at least five goals with three being 10-goal victories. Duke's average margin of victory since 2004 is 5.33 goals.
Many of the past 26 meetings have been high-scoring affairs. The two powerhouse programs are averaging a combined 31 goals per game this season. The lowest combined goal total was 13, a 7-6 overtime win for Duke in 2005.
Duke is 13-0 in games in Durham since 2005 and scores an average of 15.3 goals per game.

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