Two road wins and two records. Spring break couldn’t have ended better for the Blue Devils.
No. 4 Duke took down No. 12 Louisville 10-8 Saturday at the UofL Lacrosse Stadium. With the narrow victory against the Cardinals, the team matches the program’s best start to a season since 2006.
“Both teams really battled from start to finish,” head coach Kerstin Kimel told GoDuke.com. “We’re both probably accustomed to scoring more goals, but I thought the effort from both teams was fantastic.”
It was a tough matchup for the Blue Devils (9-0, 4-0 in the ACC), who average 14.4 goals per game, but the veterans stepped up again.
Senior midfielder Taylor Trimble, who delivered a season-high four goals, broke the deadlock as she found the back of the net 80 seconds after the opening faceoff. The Cardinals (5-2, 0-2) tied the contest six minutes later thanks to an unassisted score by Kaylin Morrissette. Duke took a 3-1 lead in a five-minute span as senior attacker Kerrin Maurer and Trimble notched one goal apiece.
But Louisville was up to give Duke a fight and turned the game around with 9:11 to play. The Blue Devils contested with a 2-0 run in two minutes and went to the locker room with a 5-4 lead. Four seniors—Maurer, Trimble, Katie Trees and Brigid Smith—led Duke’s offense in the opening 30 minutes, combining for four goals and two assists.
The Blue Devils stretched their lead as Maurer netted her second goal of the day—and her 20th this season—two minutes into the second half. But once again, the Cardinals were not going to surrender and put together out another 3-0 run in three and a half minutes to take the lead, 7-6.
In the final 19 minutes, Duke secured the win outscoring Louisville 4-1. Although the Cardinals made things interesting when they tied the game for the sixth time with 10:03 to play, Trimble added two goals—boosting her season total to 17—and senior midfielder Erin Tenneson and freshman attacker Kyra Harney netted one score apiece to give the program its 250th win.
If Duke’s offensive performance was crucial to capture their ninth-straight victory, defense was not less determining.
The Blue Devils, who are only allowing 6.22 goals per contest, kept a team that entered averaging 16.0 goals in single figures. Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea delivered seven saves against Louisville, four in the first half and three in the last 30 minutes. With Duke was leading 9-8 with 5:13 to play, the Beverly, Mass., native made a decisive save blocking a Louisville shot attempt.
“I’m really happy with our defensive effort,” Kimel said. “To limit this team to single digits is a nice little notch in our belt. At the same time, they made us really work for the opportunities that we got today.”
The Blue Devils will hit the road again this weekend for their third conference game as they will travel to Charlottesville, Va., to battle No. 8 Virginia (4-4, 0-2). Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday.
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