When all is said and done, as a rule, more is said than done.
Unfortunately for William & Mary (1-7), this was definitely not the case Saturday. The Duke women's lacrosse team (7-2) let its game do all the talking as the Blue Devils crushed the Tribe in a resounding 18-9 victory.
The third-ranked Blue Devils' mission heading into their matchup versus William & Mary was to avoid any sort of emotional letdown after their thrilling 8-7 victory last week over archrival North Carolina. Well, mission accomplished.
"Coming off two big wins, it was tough to play in this game," coach Kerstin Kimel said, "It would have been easy to let down. We didn't play our best game, but it was a really good effort for us. I was proud of our kids."
The Blue Devils didn't wait long to get their offense rolling, as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the strength of two Tricia Martin goals. The Tribe's Lindsey Lowman answered with a score of her own six-and-a-half minutes into the game, but the Blue Devils then went on a 6-0 run to build an 8-1 lead with 12:44 remaining in the half.
William & Mary got as close as 13-7 after a Tara Hannaford score midway through the second half, but Meg Barnet and Courtney Rodgers countered with consecutive goals to put Duke up 15-7, effectively pulling the plug on the Tribe's chance for a comeback.
Kelly Dirks led all Duke scorers with five points on two goals and three assists. Martin recorded another hat trick and Claire Finn, Lauren Gallagher and Kate Soulier each chipped in two goals.
"[William & Mary] was a great opportunity for other players to score," Kimel said. "It allowed other people to step up and get confidence in their ability to score. Also, it gives us confidence in terms of our depth and who can play when we head into our games versus Virginia and other top competition."
Senior Shannon Chaney and sophomore Kristin Foster split time in the Blue Devil cage, with each netminder seeing 30 minutes of action. Chaney stopped seven shots and allowed just four goals. Her protégé, Foster, was also effective in goal, allowing five goals while making five saves.
The easy victory allowed the Blue Devils to utilize some players who haven't seen much action this season. Sophomore Kristen McElduff, who has only played in three of Duke's games this season, notched the first goal of her career with just 1:08 left in the contest. Freshman Carrie Starr also found the back of the net for the first time in her young career, on an unassisted goal at the 1:49 mark.
"It was a great game to be able to play a lot of different people," Kimel said. "It was great to be able to put [Starr and McElduff] in in front of their family and friends and have them be able to score goals for our team."
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