It wasn't supposed to end like this.
Not in their house and certainly not on senior day. But as the rains came down and as the media and fans scurried for cover after the game, there was one fact that could not be washed away.
No. 7 James Madison (12-4) had come to Durham and knocked off the No. 8 Blue Devils (9-5) 16-14, thus averting a three-game slide to virtually assure themselves a birth in the NCAA tournament and further imperil Duke's tournament hopes.
"For us, more than anything, it's just a confidence builder," JMU's Jess Marion said. "Duke is a great, great team. This [win] was really good for us, to prove to ourselves that we can still come together and play hard."
The Blue Devils led the game 12-10 when Kate Kaiser, who scored four goals in the first stanza, was handed her second yellow card and subsequently ejected with 18:36 left in the game.
With Kaiser out, James Madison reeled off five consecutive goals in the next six-and-a-half minutes to take a 15-12 advantage that Duke could not overcome.
"That definitely was a big advantage for us," Marion said. "[Kate] is a phenomenal player on both ends of the field. And I think that once that happened, we got a couple
James Madison coach Jennifer Ulehla also talked about the great impact of Kaiser's ejection.
"Kate Kaiser is a great, great player, and it's unfortunate that she was taken out of the game. Certainly when a great player like that is ejected from the game, you're going to build a lot of confidence and momentum."
Ashley Wick scored on a free position with 9:54 left to quell the Dukes' run and bring Duke to within two, but the Blue Devils would get no closer. Duke had numerous chances in the game's waning moments, but James Madison's goalie, Jennifer Corradini, turned away those attempts.
"Those saves were huge," Ulehla said. "And there's nothing better than a goaltender coming up with a great save to psyche up the rest of your team. It really does get underneath your skin and build confidence."
But early in the contest, it looked like Duke, not the Dukes, was going to walk away with the win.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a quick two-goal lead on scores by Kate Soulier and Kaiser. The Blue Devils' low defenders stymied early scoring chances from the Dukes, but James Madison eventually settled down and got into the offensive flow and went on to victory.
"As the game went on, we realized more of what we could do," JMU's Corradini said. "We knew that we really had to possess the ball and work it around instead of just trying to go in and force the ball.
"We settled down and really worked it around and caught [Duke] off guard. We placed our shots very well, we moved the keeper and were able to score. And that made the difference."
The Blue Devils trailed 8-5 with six minutes left in the first half, but Kaiser and Soulier combined for three goals in less than two minutes to forge an 8-8 tie heading into the break.
Despite the disappointing finish in their home finale, the Blue Devils' offense has played better than it has in its last three games against quality opponents, a positive that should carry over into the regular season finale against second-ranked Dartmouth.
"I was happy that our offense played pretty well today," Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We scored 14 goals and that's more where we should be.
"I feel like today, James Madison beat us and we didn't beat ourselves. To put a positive spin on it going into a big game on Friday, I think that's what we have to look at right now."
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