Quite a weekend for William & Mary.
A day after handing top-ranked North Carolina its first loss of the year, 11-7, No. 10 William & Mary rolled into Duke Lacrosse Stadium yesterday looking for an encore against a Blue Devil team trying to rebound from its own loss to the Tar Heels last Wednesday.
By the end of the game, the Tribe (3-5) had turned its season around by stopping a late Blue Devil rally and handing No. 3 Duke (7-3) its second-straight loss, 6-5. Mary Beth Noel scored four goals to lead William & Mary past the Blue Devils, who walked off the field as disappointed as they've been all year.
"I don't know if we underestimated William & Mary; we shouldn't have because a lot of us were over [in Chapel Hill] watching that game yesterday," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "They're a lot better than their record reflects.
"This year we have a level that we expect to be able to perform at, and we didn't prepare ourselves to perform at that level. It's very disappointing for everybody."
Though the Tribe sports a losing record, all five of its losses have come against top-10 teams. The experience in tight games helped late. After Noel scored her fourth goal with just under 21 minutes left in the game to put the Tribe ahead 5-2, Duke's offense finally began to show signs of life.
Tricia Martin, the Blue Devils' leading scorer, found the back of the cage for the first time on the afternoon at 18:55. After missing a few earlier chances, including a breakaway to open the second half, Martin had a free run toward the net from the left side and fired high over goalie Jacque Orsi's left shoulder, cutting Duke's deficit to two.
"We had a pretty bad game on offense," said Martin, who still scored a pair of goals. "I think we were a little more pumped up for [Wednesday's UNC game]. We just didn't come out to play, and we weren't ready to win."
Just 1:18 later, Kristin Lonergan bounced a free position shot into the goal and the momentum belonged to the Blue Devils.
But they couldn't find the equalizer.
With 10:55 left, Molly Renehan shot a low blast out top that elluded Duke goalkeeper Shannon Chaney and put William & Mary ahead by two goals. Orsi then thwarted the Blue Devils on numerous scoring threats, including a point-blank shot by Kate Soulier just to the left of the cage with six minutes left.
Martin gave Duke hope at 1:39, scoring on a free position that left the Blue Devils with enough time to even the score and send the game to overtime.
But Duke's last chance was turned aside by Orsi 25 seconds later, when Emily Hickman's 10-foot shot from the left side was deflected just wide.
"We came in feeling that when we step on the field, we expect to win," Amy Noble said. "So when we don't win and we don't play well, it's really disappointing."
William & Mary rolled out to a quick start in the first half. After Martin was denied by Orsi just seven seconds in, the Tribe scored the first three goals of the game covering a span of 20 minutes. Courtney Rodgers got Duke on the scoreboard, putting in a rebound off a scramble in front of the net, and Noble pulled the Blue Devils to within 4-2 at the half, scoring after receiving a behind-the-goal feed from Meghan McLaughlin at 7:33.
"We just didn't come out as ready to play as we did against UNC," Noble said. "We weren't trying hard the whole game. To play so hard against UNC, and then to lose to a team like this today is really disappointing."
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