Despite scoring fewer than 30 seconds into the game and breaking even statistically, the seventh-ranked Blue Devils couldn't overcome No. 12 Notre Dame Thursday, falling to the Fighting Irish, 12-8, to drop their third contest in a row.
Although the numbers paint an even picture, Duke (7-4) was unable to achieve any offensive coherence as a 5-0, first-half run from Notre Dame (9-3) proved to be an insurmountable obstacle.
The Blue Devils outshot the Fighting Irish, 25-22, the two teams tied on draw controls, and Duke led in ground balls, 16-15. Yet, the Blue Devils were rushed in their rhythm and Notre Dame's 7-3 halftime lead was too much to overcome.
"Our gameplan was to slow the ball down," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We didn't do that. We took shots when we shouldn't have taken shots, and we weren't patient on offense at all."
The contest started in Duke's favor when it gained possession off the first draw. Junior Carolyn Davis held the ball at the top of the arc and nailed a quick pass to freshman Emma Hamm, who finished a shot over the goalie's right shoulder to take an early lead. The Blue Devils controlled the ball for the next five minutes, dictating the pace of the game.
But with 23:43 left in the half, Notre Dame's Caitlin McKinney wove through a field of Duke defenders to tie the game and kick off a five-goal spurt that spanned 18 minutes to put the Fighting Irish on top, 5-1.
In response to the streak, Kimel called a timeout to assess the situation and modify her game strategy.
"We had been playing a bit more sagged on them, and once they went on that run, we made some adjustments," said goalie Kim Imbesi, who finished with eight saves. "We were a little more aggressive on them, which was effective. We tried to slide more and pressure them more, and it worked."
Out of the timeout, Duke was able to revitalize itself for two goals-the first from Jess Adam, who rolled the crease from behind the net. Just over a minute later, sophomore Lindsay Gilbride was fouled, garnering a free position. The midfielder bounced a hard shot past goalie Erin Goodman to cut the Fighting Irish lead to 5-3 with a more than three minutes remaining in the period.
Notre Dame, however, responded with two more goals as time wound down, putting a damper on Duke's momentum.
In the second period, the Blue Devils were first to score again, but not until nearly six minutes had elapsed. Junior attacker Megan Del Monte curled around the net and dinged a shot off the inside post for the score, bringing Duke within three. However, the Fighting Irish's Shaylyn Blaney retaliated with two goals in under three minutes to widen the gap to 9-4 and essentially seal the victory.
"Our main problem was in the midfield on transition-rushing, rushing shots," Imbesi said. "We weren't doing the simple things. We had the ability to take our time, and we didn't really use it."
The teams traded goals throughout the rest of the second half, both scoring five in the period. Duke scored two in a row, one from freshman Sarah Bullard and another from Hamm-a quick-stick off a pass from Del Monte to make the score 11-8. But Notre Dame's initial edge was more than the Blue Devils could take, and as the clock ticked down, the visiting team played keep-away to end the game.
"We did pretty well on the draw, we won ground balls and we only had 15 turnovers," Kimel said. "We didn't stick to our gameplan offensively. They have a really good offensive team, and we wanted to have the ball more than we did. We weren't able to create any momentum."
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