BLACKSBURG – For the third consecutive meeting, Virginia Tech and Duke were separated by one goal when the final horn blew. This instance fell in favor of the Blue Devils, who walked away the 9-8 victors at Thompson Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Hokies showed resilience early, as they overcame a four-goal deficit in the second quarter. However, the one-goal lead that Duke took into the half-time break was withheld through the final 30 minutes to hold off Tech from making it back-to-back wins over the Blue Devils.
Tech jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first quarter, but Duke responded with five unanswered goals – all be separate players – to take a commanding 6-2 lead.
Virginia Tech responded by flexing its muscle on the draw, which it held a 15-5 advantage on at the end of the day, and rattled off three goals within a minute and seven seconds of each other to cement itself back into the game.
Paige Tyson played a vital role in the comeback, scoring two of the three goals in quick succession, before adding one more to level the game at six goals each. The Collegeville, Pa. native would lead all players in scoring on the day.
Duke was able to tack on one more score before halftime to take a 7-6 lead into the break.
The second half produced much more tame results on the offensive end for both sides, although Virginia Tech held an 11-8 advantage in second half shots.
Caroline Little's game-tying goal less than two minutes into the quarter was negated by a two-goal response from Duke with 6:05 and 4:19 remaining in the third frame.
Tech had a handful of opportunities in the 12 minutes and eight seconds in between pulling a goal back with Vergano's second of the day. However, the fourth quarter that had a game-high five turnovers and five shots that didn't result in goals for Tech locked up the victory for Duke.
Senior Lilly Kannapell made six saves for the Hokies after stepping in to protect the cage near the halfway mark of the second quarter.
Virginia Tech returns to play on Wednesday at 4 p.m. for an in-state matchup with Longwood at Thompson Field.Gallery: (3-16-2024) LAX: Duke Match