No. 4 Duke Halts No. 1 Northwestern?s 31-Game Winning Streak, 16-10

Friday, April 7

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

Northwestern

No. 4 Duke Halts No. 1 Northwestern?s 31-Game Winning Streak, 16-10

4/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

Durham, N.C. - No. 4 Duke put an end to the longest winning streak in the nation on Friday when they defeating No. 1 Northwestern, 16-10, at Koskinen Stadium. The Wildcats entered the contest with a 10-0 record and a 31-game winning streak, but the Blue Devils poured on 11 goals in the first half for the victory.

The last time Northwestern lost was in the NCAA Tournament in 2004 when they suffered a 15-11 loss to Virginia. The win for Duke was just the second for the program over a top-ranked team. They improved to 2-7 all-time with the only other victory coming against Maryland, 9-8, in 2002.

Friday would be Duke's night, however, as they jumped out to a big first half lead and never looked back. The Wildcats came into the game as the top scoring team in the country at 16.8 goals per game but Duke would hold them to just 10 goals in the game. The Blue Devils showed their offensive firepower with 16 goals, 1.5 more than their season average of 14.5 per game.

Northwestern's leading scorer Kristen Kjellman scored the first goal of the game 38 seconds in, but the Blue Devils scored eight of the next nine goals, including six straight, over the next 22 minutes to take an 8-2 lead. Leigh Jester and Katie Chrest each had a lot to do with the run. Jester assisted on four of the the eight goals while Chrest scored three times. Carolyn Davis scored twice over the final six minutes of the half to give her three goals and an assist in the opening stanza and put the Blue Devils on top 11-4 heading into the break.

Chrest scored an unassisted goal to start the second half and put Duke ahead by eight goals. The Wildcats responded with a pair of goals to make it 12-6, but three straight goals by the Blue Devils put the game out of reach with 17 minutes to go. Northwestern tacked on four straight goals over the next 10 minutes but it was too little too late as Duke put the finishing touches on the game when Meeghan Ford scored with just over a minute to play to make the final 16-10.

Jester had a big night for the Blue Devils with two goals and four assists, making her just the fifth player in Duke history to record four or more assists in a game. Chrest finished the game with five points, including a team-high four goals and an assist. She also had four ground balls and two caused turnovers in the contest. Davis tallied three goals and an assist while Kristen Waagbo also recorded a hat trick with three goals of her own to move into a tie for fifth on Duke's career points list. She now has 157 career points to match Kelly Dirks. Caroline Cryer also chimed in with two goals and an assist.

Northwestern was led by Kjellman, who finished with a game-high five goals to go along with three ground balls and four draw controls. Lindsey Munday had two goals and three assists as well for the Wildcats.

Duke improves to 10-1 on the season with the victory while Northwestern falls to 10-1.

The Blue Devils have another tough game ahead on Sunday when they host No. 10 Notre Dame at 1 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.