Player-of-the-Week

By Patrick

This week the HomeField/Overtime Media Player-of-the-Week hails from the weekend's biggest upset. Heading down to Durham, NC with a number one ranking and a perfect 12-0 record, UVA looked like they couldn't lose. The Cavs had won three consecutive one goal games, including the seven overtime thriller against Maryland, but their luck along with their perfect record came to an end against eighth ranked Duke.

Leading the Blue Devils was senior attackman Ned Crotty, whose assist to Justin Turri helped Duke strike first. Crotty contributed back-to-back goals of his own at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter which pushed his team's lead to 4-2 in a game the Blue Devils would never trail.

While Crotty helped set the tone and stake Duke to an early lead, his leadership and experience were never more evident than late in the third quarter. UVA was threatening to make a run as their own senior attackman, Danny Glading, put the team on his shoulders with two amazing unassisted tallies. Glading's teammate, Mike Thompson, followed suit with a goal of his own on a well-placed rip from up top, and suddenly the Cavaliers were back in the game, down only 9-6 with more than 20 minutes left to play. This is when a poised Crotty delivered a knockout punch, calmly notching two assists to spark a five-goal Duke run that Crotty would finish with his sixth and final assist of the day. That run pushed the Blue Devil lead to 14-6 in the fourth quarter and UVA never posed a serious threat the rest of the way. When the final whistle blew, Duke had a 15-10 victory and Crotty finished with career-highs in points and assists, finishing the day with eight points on 2 goals and 6 assists.

It's great to see a senior step up and lead his team in a game of this magnitude, and we offer our congratulations to Ned Crotty and the rest of the Blue Devils on a great win. Good luck to Duke as they finish the regular season against Army and St. John's, and prepare for the ACC tournament where they will be the second seed.