Battling two Tigers and unfamiliar weather conditions, the women's lacrosse team emerged from spring break with close wins over Towson and George Mason and a 16-12 loss to then-No. 6 Princeton.
Duke (5-1) entered the game against the Princeton Tigers undefeated and boasting a No. 4 national ranking, its highest ever. Last Sunday, however, the experienced Tigers brought the Blue Devils back to earth.
"They're a better team than us," coach Kerstin Kimel said of Princeton. "They're older, more experienced and faster than us. We played pretty well, but we played young. We had eight sophomores and freshmen out there."
Playing its first game of the season, Princeton jumped out to an early 6-1 lead 11 minutes into the game. Led by sophomore Tricia Martin and junior Kendra Basner, who scored two goals each, the Blue Devils closed the gap to 7-5 at halftime.
After Princeton built a 15-7 advantage in the second half, Duke came back again. Playing in the bitter cold, Martin and freshman Courtney Rodgers scored twice and freshman Kate Soulier added another goal in the final eight minutes of the game.
"What was so great about the Princeton game is that we were down at one point 15-7, but we fought back to 16-12," Kimel said. "Since I've been here, we really haven't had the athletes physically or mentally to do that. That was great for us."
The following Sunday, the Blue Devils once again found themselves in the jaws of Tigers-this time No. 13 Towson.
With 1:29 left in the game, Towson (3-2) tied the score at nine, leaving the Blue Devils with the possibility of overtime in the cold rain and strong wind.
Last year, Towson had pulled out a 14-13 win in overtime against Duke.
Not looking to repeat that situation, Basner sent a shot past the Towson defense with 36 seconds left, giving Duke the 10-9 victory.
"Kendra's really had a nice year for us," Kimel said. "She's really struggled with injuries the last few years, so this year is really the first year that I think we're seeing the real Kendra Basner.
"That was huge for her to make a shot like that. It was kind of an ugly shot, but it went in, and that's the kind of day it was for us."
Four days before, the Blue Devils had also won narrowly over George Mason, when Martin scored with just over two minutes left for a 9-8 victory.
In that game, the Blue Devils also played in the mud, rain and wind, conditions that they are unfamiliar with. At Duke, on the off chance there is rain, the Blue Devils play on a turf field.
"It's obvious that their team is more comfortable with field conditions like this," Kimel said. "It affected everybody, especially defensively. You lose your footing, and I think when you start losing your footing, you lose your confidence."
Despite the rain, the Duke fans outnumbered the Towson fans. Nine Blue Devils are from the Maryland and Virginia area, including five starters. In addition, the entire coaching staff graduated from the University of Maryland.
"This was a really nice weekend," Kimel said. "They were able to come home and every day we were able to eat at someone's house. For them to be able to come and play in front of their family and friends really means something to them."
Duke next faces Georgetown Sunday at home.
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