In the shadow of Touchdown Jesus, the women's lacrosse team put on an effort this weekend that would have made Knute Rockne proud.
Friday, No. 7 Duke (7-5) outlasted No. 9 Notre Dame (8-3) 10-9 in three overtimes. Saturday afternoon, though, the Blue Devils were edged 13-12 by No. 12 Yale (9-2). Both games were held in South Bend, Ind.
Against the Fighting Irish, Duke raced out to a 3-0 lead just five minutes into the game on goals from sophomores Caline McHenry and Meghan Miller and junior Lauren Gallagher. Notre Dame would close to 4-3 by halftime.
"I was really pleased with the way we came out and played Notre Dame," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "Right from the get-go, we came out and took control."
Junior Erin O'Shaughnessy restored Duke's margin to two after 32 seconds of play in the second half. Notre Dame clawed its way back, however, and knotted the game at five at the 20:50 mark.
Junior Jessica Bennett gave Duke a brief 6-5 lead before Notre Dame tied the game again with 17 minutes remaining. The game remained even until the seven-minute mark, when Gallagher and senior Claire Sullivan gave Duke an 8-6 advantage.
The luck of the Irish then came through for Notre Dame when a free position shot was awarded with 1:40 left. Notre Dame converted, and then scored again from point-blank range with just 19 seconds left to tie the game and send the contest to overtime.
In the first overtime each team scored once, sending the game into a sudden death period. Each team was held scoreless in the first sudden-death period, as the level of play was raised to a different standard.
"The overtimes were really, really well played," Kimel said. "We maintained possession very well, and we didn't allow them to have the ball."
Miller clinched it for Duke with 15 seconds remaining in the second sudden-death period to give Duke the 10-9 victory.
"I got the ball up top and the goal looked pretty open," Miller said. "Luckily they didn't cover fast enough and it was open on the left."
Duke's pair of Tewaaraton finalists, senior goalkeeper Kristen Foster and Gallagher, led the way for the Blue Devils against Notre Dame. Foster was outstanding in goal, recording 12 saves.
"She made all the saves that she was supposed to make and she made some really unbelievable saves, as well," Kimel said.
Gallagher's play was also solid, as she scored three goals and tallied three assists on the day. She now leads Duke in goals scored with 25.
The Blue Devils squared off against Yale just 14 hours later and found themselves in a dogfight with the Bulldogs. Kimel said she believes her team's lack of depth hurt its chances against Yale.
Refusing to make excuses, however, Kimel instead cited uncharacteristic mistakes in offensive and defensive transition as a factor in Duke's loss to Yale.
Duke began the game playing well, however, as the two squads traded goals until Duke took a two-goal lead at 5-3 off goals from senior Kelly Dirks and Gallagher.
Yale then found the back of the net twice in a row to fix the score at five. Bennett gave Duke a temporary 6-5 lead before Yale scored four successive goals to take a 9-6 advantage. The Bulldogs held onto their lead, entering halftime up 9-7.
The Blue Devils rallied in the second half, battling Yale to an 11-10 deficit. The Bulldogs bit back, however, scoring twice with 10 minutes remaining for a three-goal lead. Duke was able to score twice in the next five minutes, but Yale held on for the 13-12 victory.
Gallagher again had another outstanding game--her four goals led the Blue Devils. Dirks also tallied three scores in a losing effort.
"The Yale game was a tough loss because we felt like we didn't do everything well like we did against Notre Dame," Miller said. "I think we beat ourselves."
"[Not doing the little things] was a big reason why we didn't end up winning in the end."
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