Second-ranked lacrosse teams both score easy road wins

At this point in the season, the Duke womenPis lacrosse team has one song on its mind: Rawhide.<= Why? Because the Blue Devils just keep rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling.<= No. 2 Duke (8-1) extended its winning streak to seven games yesterday with an 11-8 win on the road against No. 15 William & Mary (2-6). Kelly Dirks paced the Blue Devil offensive attack, netting five goals and dishing out one assist. This win, DukePis first ever versus the Tribe, came one day after William & MaryPis 7-5 upset win over North Carolina. This was a game that we were supposed to win,<= coach Kerstin Kimel said. We knew that William & Mary would be very up and spirited coming off the win over Carolina. So, we knew it would be a big challenge.<= The contest remained even for the majority of the afternoon, with the Tribe tying the score at 8-8 with 11:32 remaining. Dirks found the back of the net on an assist from Stacey Mon 5:35 later in the game, giving Duke a one-goal advantage. Two more goals in the closing minutes put the game out of reach for the Blue Devils. We had lot of opportunities in the early going that we didnPit convert,<= Kimel said. Either we just missed the cage or the keeper made the save, but I thought we had a lot of good looks.<= While Duke never trailed, William & Mary tied the score four times. The pattern of a Blue Devil score followed by a Tribe score was the scene through the first 18:38, before DukePis Ashley Wick and Tricia Martin found the net to give the Blue Devils a 5-3 lead with 10:06 remaining. The Tribe cut DukePis advantage to 6-5 late in the half, but Kate Kaiser answered with a goal of her own with only 20 seconds left to extend the lead to two goals. While the Blue Devil defense did not have its strongest performance of the season, it held the Tribe when it came down to crunch time. Defensively I thought we struggled just a bit,<= Kimel said. We had some trouble slowing them down in transition. They werenPit faster, but we made a few bad decisions to give them man-up chances on offense.<= The offensive attack, particularly Dirks, allowed Duke the luxury of having a less-than-perfect defensive performance while still claiming the victory. [Dirks] has really played well in practice, which is really what earned her this playing time,<= Kimel said. She does a great job of finding the open holes in the defense and then finishing.<= This game was an ideal opportunity for the Blue Devils to suffer a letdown, coming off their victory over No. 3 North Carolina Wednesday night. But Kimel reminded the team of how a struggling William & Mary team traveled to Durham last year and upset the home team. Often times itPis even tougher in the games you are supposed to win,<= Kimel said. But I think our team stepped up to the challenge and played our game.<=