The clock ran out on Duke's comeback chances Sunday as Meghan Walters' goal with just 30 seconds to go left the Blue Devils still one point shy of Georgetown.
No. 4 Duke (5-3) lost its second straight match, falling to the second-ranked Hoyas (5-0) by a score of 9-8. Earlier in the week, top-ranked Princeton defeated the Blue Devils 12-5.
"There was definitely progress from our Princeton game," Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We made a lot of mistakes today, and it's something we can fix but we have to work on it the next two weeks."
Georgetown scored first, when just two minutes into the game, Sarah Oliphant connected on a goal from the right side. Duke tied up the contest when Kristy Dirks found the back of the net on a long shot from the top of the circle.
Georgetown went on a surge later in the period, scoring three goals in less than two minutes, including one from Anouk Peters, who scored three times. Before the half ended, the Blue Devils closed the gap to just three when Katie Chrest spun to get away from her defender and made a sidearm shot for the first of her two goals.
"We came out a little flat and that was one of our problems," freshman Leigh Jester said. "We kind of dug ourselves in a hole. If we could keep going and build on one goal, two goals, obviously that would help us instead of everyone just standing around."
In the second half, the two teams traded scores until the Blue Devils, facing a 7-3 deficit and 18 minutes remaining, went on a run.
Kristen Waagbo found teammate Stefanie Sparks streaking down the middle for an easy goal.
Then Jester was able to capitalize on a Duke free-position shot for the first time all afternoon. The team had missed on the previous three uncontested opportunities, while Georgetown went two-for-three on its free-position shots.
After winning the ensuing faceoff, the Blue Devils found Corinne Broesler open on the left side of the goal. She made a quick spin to the middle and beat Hoyas goalie Sarah Robinson to put Duke within one goal for the first time since the opening minutes.
"We put ourselves in the position where we had to make that run," Chrest said. "It comes down to playing with heart and attitude, and they had it today, and we didn't. We had it at times but we didn't have it for the full game."
The momentum of that run was quickly lost as Georgetown regained a three-goal margin with scores from juniors Catherine Elbe and Allison Chambers.
The Blue Devils refused to go away and showed some resiliency even while the Hoyas tried to stall and run down the clock.
With Georgetown slowing the pace, Katie Chrest took advantage of one of the few opportunities in the last five minutes by bouncing a shot past the goalie. Duke then stole the ball with 2:30 left on the clock, but just as it did much of the afternoon, turned the ball over with bad ball control.
With half a minute remaining and a free shot, Blue Devil Michelle Menser passed the ball to teammate Walters, who ripped a shot into the goal.
Duke gained control of the following faceoff, but Walters could not connect on her shot. The Blue Devils failed to score on their second chance as well and time expired as Coach Kimel argued for a penalty that was not called.
After exerting so much energy only to come up short, the team looked visibly upset by the loss but seemed determined to learn from it.
"Georgetown's always a tough opponent, but we took steps forward from the Princeton game," Chrest said. "We're taking it day by day. It's a marathon not a sprint."
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