Men's Lacrosse
The Chronicle
Oh what a difference Spring Break meant for the men's lacrosse team.
Seven days after allowing Maryland (2-0, 1-0 in the ACC) to leave a Terrapins stamp on the back of its net in a 17-12 loss, Duke traveled to Baltimore Saturday to take on No. 12 Loyola and with a mission of reasserting itself defensively.
The time between games must have been beneficial for the No. 8 Blue Devils, as they took it to the Greyhounds and rode their veteran defense to a resounding 11-3 victory.
Of course a week filled of intense practice and gentle reminders from head coach Mike Pressler probably didn't hurt either.
"We responded defensively," Pressler said. "We worked on defense all week over break.... For us to be successful, we had to tighten down defensively."
And after dropping its ACC opener against the Terps, Duke now has to feel a little better about itself having come away with a road win against a top-15 team and having avoided dropping to .500 early in the season.
"That was a must win for us," Presser said. "We had to get that one on the road. That was huge win for us early in the season."
Duke (3-1, 0-1 in the ACC) held the Greyhounds (1-2) scoreless after halftime and limited them to only 11 shots in the third and fourth quarters. Duke also held Loyola scoreless in second half of the teams' meeting last year, a 10-4 Blue Devil victory.
Duke took the suspense out of the contest relatively early in the second half, ripping off four straight goals to make the lead 10-3.
The Blue Devils were led by Matt Zash's three goals and two goals apiece from Matt Danowski and Ryan Marshall.
The Loyola senior attack duo of senior Stephen Brundage and junior Matt Monfett, who entered the game with a combined 12 points in two games, were shut down by the Blue Devil defense.
An All-American last season, Brundage was harassed all game by sophomore David Evans, who held his mark to 0-for-5 shooting.
Meanwhile, Monfett, who transferred to Loyola after two seasons at Duke, managed one assist in his first game against his former teammates.
Duke's goalie, Aaron Fenton, made the most of his first career start, recording 18 saves, including several point-blank stops in the second half.
Fenton and Loftus have been competing for the starting assignment in the preceding week's practice up until now, and that system will continue, although Fenton will start against Canisus this week, Pressler said.
"I'm certainly happy with the effort of Spring Break, with the results, but we aren't patting ourselves on the back," Pressler said. "We have three game coming up [and] some exciting lacrosse ahead of us."
Women's Lacrosse
The Chronicle
As Katie Chrest's low, strong shot sailed into the lower left corner of the net, the second-ranked women's lacrosse team earned a quadruple overtime victory over No. 13 North Carolina (4-2, 0-1 in the ACC) and took a commanding lead in the race for its first regular season ACC title. The Chrest goal gave the Blue Devils (5-1, 2-0) a dramatic 7-6 sudden death overtime victory in Chapel Hill Saturday afternoon.
The Tar Heels were called for a moving pick and Duke quickly advanced the ball down the field. After being well-covered throughout the game, Chrest was left open. Kristy Dirks found the Blue Devil sophomore, who ran several yards down the field and scored the game-winning goal.
"To win that game was a great thing for us, especially the way we did it," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "It is your arch rival, right down the road and it is the first time we are 2-0 in the ACC. The fact that we won and how we did was a great confidence boost for our kids."
North Carolina controlled the ball for the first two three-minute overtime sessions, but could not muster a goal. Kristen Waagbo had the best scoring opportunity for the Blue Devils before the game-winning tally, but could not connect on a free-position attempt during the second extra period.
Scoring four unanswered goals spanning the two halves, the Blue Devils had the momentum and a 6-4 lead, but North Carolina clawed back to force overtime. Allison Higgins started the Tar Heel comeback, scoring 11 minutes into the second period.
After the North Carolina tally and clinging to a one-goal advantage, the Blue Devil defense prevented the Tar Heels from leveling the score until there was just 1:49 remaining in the contest. Higgins then fed Kelly Renzi, who beat Duke goaltender Megan Huether to force overtime.
Playing in front of the home crowd, North Carolina jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. Chrissy Rude and Brooke Dieringer scored within the first four minutes of action.
Duke quickly got on track as Chrest scored off a pass from Katie Laschinger, but the Tar Heels quickly pushed the lead back to two. Waagboo scored 9:16 into the contest, but once again North Carolina answered, this time only 37 seconds later.
Then Duke went on an offensive flurry, including back-to-back scores by All-American Meghan Miller, that would give it a 5-4 halftime lead. The Duke defense really clamped down in the latter stages of the first half, stymieing the North Carolina attack.
"It started with our defense," Kimel said. "We were very unorganized right off the first draw. We defensively go our matches, got more comfortable and forced them to take tough shots."
The Blue Devils added a Waagbo goal, the freshman's ninth of the season, five minutes into the second half, but that would be the last time Duke would score in regulation.
The game, according to Kimel, was sloppy for both teams. The Blue Devils were hampered by injuries, especially in the midfield. A number of freshman were pressed into action including Meghan Ferguson who played a key role for the defensive unit, preventing North Carolina's offensive leader Beth Ames from scoring. Huther, after letting up a few goals early, played well in goal, saving 15 shots and holding the Tar Heels scoreless on four free-position opportunities.
Duke showed resiliency against the Tar Heels after suffering its first defeat of the season Wednesday to 12th-ranked Notre Dame in Orlando, Florida. Kimel was very pleased with the way the defensive unit rebounded against North Carolina after the it struggling against the Fighting Irish.
In that contest, Notre Dame built a 6-1 advantage and never looked back. Duke picked up its offense and tightened its defense but could not overcome the early deficit as the team fell to the Irish 11-9.
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