After returning home from a fourth consecutive week on the road in a four-overtime victory Thursday over James Madison, the second-ranked women's lacrosse team fended off exhaustion and a hard-charging Dartmouth squad for a 9-8 triumph yesterday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
Duke erupted early in the game and turned the battle of top-six teams into a one-sided massacre, devastating Dartmouth with a goal 21 seconds after halftime that expanded the visitors' deficit to 8-2. The lightning-quick strike for the Blue Devils came immediately off the face-off, as midfielder Kate Soulier started a fast break and found Lauren Gallagher all alone for a point-blank shot against Big Green goalie Sarah Hughes.
But after the early outpour, Duke's offense went silent as Dartmouth slowly climbed its way back into the contest. In a game won with finesse instead of power, the Blue Devils made careless mistakes throughout the half. Several dropped passes in the attack zone ruined scoring opportunities, while others resulted in goals off turnovers by the Big Green, who ripped off five unanswered scores in a 17-minute span.
Following 16 shots on goal in the first half, Duke only tallied one in the first 14 minutes of the second half.
"I didn't think we shot that well in the second half at all. We never got into the flow of our offense. People weren't moving and people weren't challenging very hard," said Duke coach Kerstin Kimel, who attributed much of the team's let-down to physical exhaustion.
Dartmouth's comeback twice brought the sixth-ranked team within one goal, and the Big Green had a legitimate chance to tie the game after one final mistake by the Blue Devils with two minutes remaining. Playing stall-ball in its attack zone, Duke gave away possession on an errant pass by midfielder Courtney Rodgers, who lofted the ball over her teammate's stick and into the clutches of Dartmouth's Alison Moulin.
Moulin led a desperate charge by the Big Green, but Duke regained possession when Dartmouth was called for a second straight foul in their attack zone.
"It was a huge win because they're a great team," said midfielder Kate Kaiser, who registered a game-high three goals. "We realize we had a let-down in the second half and we need to work on that if we want to go all the way [in the NCAA tournament]."
Despite stumbling in the second half, the Blue Devils displayed a barraging defense in the game's first 30 minutes. Protecting goalie Kristen Foster was a tight seal that created 11 turnovers while allowing only six shots in the first half.
The Blue Devils' defense still held up in the second half, although tighter officiating seemed to give the team some problems. In the second half Duke was called for 13 of its 17 fouls.
"That was the best defense we've seen all year," Dartmouth coach Amy Patton said. "I think Duke just put us on our heels in the first half. They were making us play poorly."
After a hectic month of April, the Blue Devils have nearly two weeks off before the NCAA tournament begins May 10.
Note: Upon returning to their locker rooms in Cameron Indoor Stadium following the game's conclusion, several Dartmouth players said their lockers had been entered. Although no one cited anything other than cash as missing, Dartmouth's players said their personal belongings had been rummaged through and dumped on the floor.
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