There was a bitterly chill wind blowing at Koskinen Stadium last night, but not even the cold could slow the pace of the fourth-ranked women's lacrosse team. The Blue Devils (6-2, 1-1 in the ACC) ran circles around the visiting Davidson Wildcats (3-7) to outscore them 14-5. This is the third win in a row for Duke, after a pair of victories on the road over No. 2 Georgetown and No. 17 Johns Hopkins this past weekend.
"We came in knowing we were the better team," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We always come out prepared to play though, no matter who the opponent is. We've been striving to do that every game, and I think our seniors are doing a great job of it."
Sophomore Lauren Gallagher put Duke on the board with a shot past Davidson goalkeeper Becca Nussbaum only one minute and twenty-eight seconds into play. The goal, her 18th of the season, was the beginning of a first half onslaught that resulted in seven unanswered points by the Blue Devils. All seven goals were made by different players and came within a five-minute span.
Sarah Otto broke Duke's streak, knocking in an unassisted goal with 9:39 remaining in the first half. Duke responded with three more goals before the end of the half to go into the break up by a score of 10-1.
"We did a really good job of moving around on offense to create openings for the passing attack," said junior Kristen McElduff, who tallied one goal and three assists for the night. "The whole team is starting to get more and more confident in themselves."
Despite their insurmountable lead and a rapidly dropping evening temperature, the team remained unwavering in its enthusiasm for the game. As more and more of the bench took the field, sideline cheering only increased as the senior leaders encouraged their younger teammates.
"Tonight came at the end of a long stretch of games that have been really good for us," McElduff said. "Everybody was really excited about how well we've been playing. Our team came out ready to play and we kept it up the whole game."
The Davidson players attempted to stage a second-half comeback, led by sophomore Loren Seaton's goal 2:49 after play resumed. The Wildcats' rally was countered, however, and they only managed to break even with the Blue Devils at four goals each in the second half.
The game with Davidson was the first for junior goalkeeper Kristen Foster since being named Co-Player of the Week in the ACC. She earned this recognition with an amazing 40 saves in Duke's previous three games, while allowing only 22 goals from their highly ranked opponents. Foster shared the Player of the Week honor with Amy Havrilla, a senior midfielder from UNC who scored five goals and made one assist in North Carolina's win over Virginia this weekend.
"A lot of credit has to go to the defense," Foster said. "They made it much easier for me by not allowing a whole lot of shots. Our team really played well this week."
The team will have to continue playing well for the remainder of the year to meet its lofty season goals: a return to the Final Four and a national championship trophy. Their quest resumes Saturday against William & Mary.
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