The combination of a muddy field, poor shooting and some pesky Spiders was too much for the women's lacrosse team to overcome on Tuesday.
Despite staging a second-half comeback, Duke (2-10) dropped its third straight game, falling 10-8 to Richmond in the worst weather conditions the Blue Devils have faced in their inaugural season. The Spiders jumped out to a 5-2 halftime lead, as Duke had difficulty adjusting to the muddy field at Richmond.
"We were not really used to that," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "I hate to use the weather as an excuse because everyone has to play in it. But [Richmond] does not have a turf field, so they have to practice in the mud sometimes."
The Blue Devils' game plan called for an aggressive style of play in which they would attack the goal early and often. Duke encountered a few problems, however. For one thing, the Blue Devils had difficulty putting the ball into the goal in the first half. Also, according to Kimel, the players made some poor decisions when they had the ball.
"I thought we played pretty sloppy in the first half," freshman Kendra Basner said. "It was a messy day, and that had something to do with it."
At halftime, however, the Blue Devils were able to forget about the poor field conditions and concentrate on the game. Although Duke continued to struggle with its shooting during the second half, the Blue Devils improved their decision-making and intensity. As a result, Duke was able to battle back to tie the score both at seven and at eight.
"In the second half, we came out ready to play, and we came back," Kimel said. "That was the big momentum shift in our direction. As the half wore on, the momentum swung in Richmond's direction. Somewhere in there they started picking us up better."
As a result, the Spiders scored the final two goals of the contest to secure their 10-8 victory.
The Blue Devils put forth a balanced scoring effort in the loss. Freshman Payton Black led Duke's offense, despite converting on just one of her six shots. Black also had four assists in the contest.
Two of Duke's defenders, sophomore Karen Sutton and freshman Sandy Johnston, returned to the lineup and scored goals. Sutton has been sick, and Johnston has missed the last week and a half with an ankle injury.
"Those two played out of their minds," Kimel said. "They hustled all over. They anticipated well. They played great defense. They saw the holes out there. Karen Sutton and Sandy Johnston played the whole game as hard as they could. Everyone else just played in spurts."
Despite their inconsistent play, the Blue Devils led the Spiders in all but two offensive categories. Unfortunately for Duke, those categories were shooting percentage and goals scored.
The loss was especially frustrating for Duke because Richmond is not a particularly strong team. But the Blue Devils have played to the level of their competition all season, so Kimel was not entirely surprised that her team did not put forth one of its better performances.
"Richmond is a team we definitely could beat," Kimel said. "We could have played better, and we had a long bus ride home."
The Blue Devils probably spent much of their return trip contemplating their next match, a 3:30 p.m. home contest against a tough Virginia squad on Saturday. That game will be the third in Duke's four-game stretch against schools from the Old Dominion.
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