Virginia opens spring season with 2-0 loss to Duke

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia opened the spring portion of the 2020-2021 season by suffering a 2-0 loss against Duke on Friday at Turf Field.

The game began as a midfield battle with Virginia taking the lone shot in the first quarter. The Cavaliers built better scoring opportunities in the second quarter, taking six shots to Duke’s four, but the score was still knotted at zero at the half.

The Blue Devils finally broke through with five minutes remaining in the third quarter when Kelsey Reznik intercepted a pass and took off on a breakaway. She lasered a pass to Darcy Bourne ahead in the circle who fired off an on-target shot. Duke added a second goal off a penalty corner in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Henriksen (Falls Church, Va.) made four saves for the Cavaliers.

“I saw a lot of good things in the first quarter,” UVA coach Michele Madison said. “I thought we denied them many opportunities in the attack zone, but we didn’t capitalize so that’s always an issue. You’ve got to make them pay for it. And to finish the game, you have to stick to the game plan. I think we have people trying to win it for the team. Heroes don’t work in this game. You have to do it as a team. We have to grow from the loss. We have to grow from it and we have to decide how we’re going to play under pressure situations.”

“This is really a historic moment really to have a spring season. It makes the spring really fun to gear up for real competition and not just play days. I think you grow in competition. You only get better by competing.”