Devils enjoy chance to 'just play'

DURHAM -- They had waited for Saturday afternoon for almost a year. Waited for a day when lacrosse, the sport most of them had played from a young age, again would be placed front and center.

For a while, the universe had spun out of control for some members of the Duke men's lacrosse team. Their minds were occupied with lawyers and court proceedings and a national scandal that had taken on a life of its own.

But here they were, running around inside Koskinen Stadium, whipping shots past Virginia goalie Kip Turner and finally dealing with on-the-field drama.

"It was a relief," Duke senior defenseman Nick O'Hara said. "We could finally get out here and just play to play."

And against the second-ranked Cavaliers, the defending national champions, there was plenty to contend with, considering the score was tied 6-6 after regulation.

The Blue Devils (10-2, 3-0 ACC) needed a risky, yet phenomenal, over-the-shoulder shot from junior midfielder Brad Ross to get past the Cavaliers 7-6 in sudden-death overtime.

His goal, commonly called an "around-the-world," provided players something to talk about after a sloppy, defensive struggle.

Ross took a cross-field pass from senior co-captain Matt Danowski, who had rocketed his own spectacular shot to push the Devils into overtime with Virginia (10-2, 2-1). He then fired from the left of the goalkeeper, moving away and shooting in one graceful motion as he caught the pass. It came with 2:19 remaining in overtime.

"I didn't see it coming," said the Cavs' Turner, who had 20 saves. "He wrapped it around his whole body. It went in by the corner. What are you going to do?"

Others also were impressed.

"He didn't really have much else to do, he had three guys around him at the doorstep," said Duke junior Zack Greer, who entered the game as the nation's second leading goal-scorer. "He did what he could to get in there. Risky, but awesome."

Ross agreed.

"It's one of those shots you practice when you're a little kid," said Ross, whose third goal of the game helped earn the fourth-ranked Devils the top seed heading into the ACC championships April 27 and April 29.

"It's out of the playbook when you get to this level," Ross continued. "If I was thinking about it, I wouldn't have done it."

Duke fans gathered among the crowd of 6,588 let out a collective roar as Ross's shot beamed into the net. While they tried to treat this as just another "big" game, their glee seemed to acknowledge the emotion of the week.

On Wednesday, three former Duke lacrosse players were declared innocent of charges brought against them last year. They were cleared of accusations made by a escort service dancer who said she was raped at a party hosted by members of the lacrosse team.

Team members called the announcement "bittersweet" and entered Saturday's game wondering if things ever would return to "just lacrosse." The events of the week made that task difficult.

"It was a weird spot," said Danowski, who had one goal and three assists. "You wanted to prove to everybody, 'Look, we were innocent.' It happened on Wednesday, and now we're going to try to make it happen again on Saturday. Re-enforcing it. ...

"I wanted to get out here and beat them as bad as we could. You want to prove it on the field, but it's something we can't do."