April 16, 2004

The 13th-ranked Duke men's lacrosse team takes to the road this weekend to face 18th-ranked and defending national champion Virginia on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. Face-off is set for 1 p.m.

The Blue Devils stand at 4-5 overall and 0-2 in the ACC after dropping a 6-5 decision to top-ranked Johns Hopkins last weekend. Duke will look to snap a four-game losing streak, its first since 1996, and the Blue Devils have not dropped five in a row since 1984.

The Cavaliers enter Saturday's game at 3-6 overall and 0-2 in league play. Virginia lost last Saturday to North Carolina in Chapel Hill by an 11-9 score.

Duke has lost five straight games to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, last winning on April 16, 1994 by a 9-8 score. A year ago, Virginia won twice over the Blue Devils (11-8 in Durham & 12-6 in Charlottesville) on its way to capturing the NCAA title.

Freshman Matt Danowski continues to lead Duke in scoring with 27 points on 16 goals and 11 assists while sophomore Dan Flannery, who leads the ACC in assists per game, is second with 26 points on 11 goals and 15 assists. In goal, Aaron Fenton is coming off a career-best 20-save performance against Johns Hopkins and is second in the league in both save percentage (.637) and goals against average (8.01).

Next weekend, Duke travels to Chapel Hill for the ACC Tournament, with the semifinals scheduled for Friday, April 23. A win over Virginia on Saturday would give the Blue Devils the number three seed and semifinal game versus second-seeded North Carolina while a loss to the Cavaliers drops Duke into the fourth seed with a semifinal tilt against top-seeded Maryland.