Rarely do opponents in any sport travel to Palo Alto, Calif., and come away with a win, but the No. 3 women's lacrosse team did just that Saturday with a 12-7 defeat of Stanford (6-2).
But even after six consecutive wins for the Blue Devils (9-1), including the most recent victory over No. 17 Stanford, the Blue Devils' emerging star Katie Chrest insisted she and her teammates were not completely satisfied with their performance against the Cardinal.
"I thought we didn't have it all together for 60 minutes. We had a lot of lapses," she said. "But I think in the end we won because of our overall better talent."
Duke certainly has more talent than the Cardinal, as Chrest is one of a multitude of Duke laxers that will be up for postseason accolades. Among her teammates, six are potential All-Americans. But Chrest has managed to stand up with her peers, as she currently leads the Blue Devils with 27 goals, 11 assists and 38 points on the season. Saturday, Chrest recorded three goals and three assists.
"She's very, very gifted," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "She's got tremendous stick skills, and she just has a knack for scoring."
Still, the Blue Devils had a difficult time dispensing of the Cardinal.
"A win's a win, and we're happy to get out of there to win," Kimel said. "We were a really big game for Stanford. It was a game that we probably could have come out and [if we] played our game for 60 minutes... the difference in scoring would have been pretty significant."
Consider: Duke managed to outshoot the Cardinal by a whopping 41 to 12 margin, but were only able to convert on 12 of those shots on goal.
After jumping out to a 5-1 lead, Duke's lead was slowly diminished to 5-4 right after halftime. But as Duke's resident superstar and Inside Lacrosse magazine cover girl Kate Kaiser attested, the Blue Devils buckled down rather than folding under the pressure.
"During the game, I felt like we were always in control," the All-American said. "When it became 5-4, I knew and the team knew that we had to make a decision to put the game away and out of Stanford's reach, which we did. At that point, we made a decision to take control and not let them back into the game."
Jessica Bennet started the rally, as she quickly knotted her second goal of the game, and then assisted Chrest just 21 seconds later to return the Stanford deficit to three. Senior All-American Lauren Gallagher then assisted junior Corrine Broesler, who also scored a hat-trick on the day.
Duke's lead would balloon to 12-5 before the Cardinal tacked on two goals before the game's conclusion.
And though the Blue Devils were not satisfied with their performance, Duke is clearly demonstrating that it is a force to be reckoned with in the NCAAs. In fact, Kaiser believes the mistakes she and her teammates are making are well on their way to being rectified.
"Each game we are working towards perfection, and there is always room for improvement," Kaiser said. "Many more people are stepping up which makes us much more dangerous."
But as Duke's offensive and defensive units gel, a few kinks in the armor have developed for Duke. Injuries to three defenders, Cauline McHenry, Lane Fogarty and Laura Anderson, are threatening their ability to play the rest of the season. Kimel stated that Fogarty is undoubtedly out for the year after blowing her knee against Princeton. The statuses of Anderson and McHenry are up in the air. But Kimel, ever the optimist, finds the silver lining to having potentially lost three players from her lineup.
With these defenders out, Kimel is able to push Kaiser into a more defensive role, allowing to her roam the field. In the past, this would have left a gaping hole in Duke's offense, but because Chrest, Gallagher and Bennet have stepped up offensively, Kimel is confident with the strategy.
Duke will test its mettle next against No. 20 Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., this Wednesday.
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