The second-year women's lacrosse team has made a statement about its progress by deciding that it will no longer accept moral victories against the nation's top teams.
On Sunday in Williamsburg, Va., Duke found that playing close may no longer be good enough. Mandy Longstreth's goal with 4:18 left in the game carried No. 6 William & Mary (5-3) to a 9-8 victory over Duke (3-6), sending the Blue Devils to their fifth straight loss.
The loss was a bittersweet one for the Blue Devils. Duke played the Tribe evenly throughout the match but still came home with a loss A year ago, in their inaugural season, the Blue Devils might have been happy with a near-miss against a nationally-ranked opponent, but this year they believe that they should be pulling out games such as this.
"I don't think it was a moral victory, because we could've and should've won the game," Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We have to look at it as progress, but we should've won."
Sunday's match saw neither team take more than a two-goal advantage. William & Mary entered the second half ahead, 6-5, but saw its lead vanish on a goal by junior Amy Murnick on a free play with 24:43 to play.
Sophomore Meghan McLaughlin put Duke ahead for the last time five-and-a-half minutes later off an assist from freshman Tricia Martin. The lead would prove to be short-lived, however, as Longstreth scored the second of her four goals just over a minute later to knot the game at seven.
With the score tied, both teams battled for the next seven minutes with neither squad able to take control. The defenses tightened, as the Tribe's Lisa Dixon and Duke's Shannon Chaney registered numerous saves in the net. Dixon finished with 16 saves, while Chaney had 18 to keep William & Mary at bay.
"We had some really great defensive stops," Kimel said. "Shannon Chaney had some great saves."
Longstreth broke the drought at 11:07, scoring her third goal of the contest to put the Tribe back on top, 8-7.
The Blue Devils were not done, though. Sophomore Kendra Basner scored with 5:09 left to re-tie the score at eight.
"We definitely were controlling the ball," McLaughlin said. "We're getting so close [to winning that] it's frustrating."
Once again, Duke was not able to contain Longstreth. She recorded her fourth goal of the game just 51 seconds later, taking advantage of a one-on-one with Chaney.
"William & Mary played very aggressive offensively," Kimel said. "They threw us off a little bit."
Longstreth scored all three of William & Mary's second-half goals and finished the afternoon with four goals and two assists. After her last score put the Tribe up 9-8, the Blue Devils attempted a furious rally in the last minute of the game, but they were unable to slip the ball past Dixon.
"When you're able to get off four shots in the last minute and none go in, luck is not on your side," Kimel said.
Luck went back and forth during a see-saw first half that saw four lead changes. Basner opened the scoring just over a minute into the game, only to watch Longstreth score and add an assist to give her team a 2-1 lead.
Martin tied the score, but William & Mary responded with two goals, the last coming at 17:40 in the half, to give the Tribe a two-goal lead, 4-2, the biggest for either team the entire game.
Duke freshmen Katie Regan and Becky Morris and junior Karen Sutton put together a three-goal spurt midway through the half, regaining the lead, 5-4, before William & Mary closed out the first stanza with a pair of goals, the last coming with just 1:43 left.
"It wasn't a complete disappointment because we played really well," McLaughlin said. "It's frustrating, but our coaches keep reminding us how well we're playing. We have to win one of these."
With this loss behind them, the Blue Devils must turn their focus to ending their current five-game losing streak in Thursday's home match against Richmond. The Spiders are only 1-9.
"That is going to be a huge game, mentally more than anything," Kimel said. "At this point in the season, it's probably our most important game of the season.
"We just have a really tough stretch of the season right now. We've been playing very strong teams."
Despite the recent skid, Kimel is still looking for a .500 finish for her team, a finish she feels is possible if her team can stay healthy over the course of its six remaining regular season games and the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Duke has now wrapped up the toughest part of its schedule, having played fifth-, sixth- and eighth-ranked foes.
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