Duke Suffers 11-10 Overtime Loss To Northwestern In NCAA Semifinal

Friday, May 26

Boston, Mass.

6 p.m.

Duke University

Northwestern

Duke Suffers 11-10 Overtime Loss To Northwestern In NCAA Semifinal

5/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

Boston, Mass. - Top-seeded Duke missed their first NCAA Championship game by inches as a shot by Caroline Cryer went just wide with 18 seconds to play in regulation. Northwestern, the defending national champions, went on to score a goal in the first period of overtime to claim an 11-10 victory over the Blue Devils.

Cryer, a sophomore from Centennial, Colo., missed by inches on a behind-the-back shot with 18 seconds left in the contest that would have put Duke ahead. However, the shot went just wide and the game went into overtime with the score tied at 10-10. In the first three minutes of the extra period, Northwestern's Sarah Albrecht tallied her only goal of the game to give the Wildcats the 11-10 lead. In the second three minutes of overtime, Northwestern held Duke scoreless to advance to their second straight national championship game.

The two teams traded goals over the first eight minutes of the game before the Wildcats took the lead on a goal by Kristen Kjellman. The Blue Devils answered with two straight goals to regain the lead at 4-3. Kristen Waagbo converted a free position attempt and Kim Pastrana scored her second of the season off a pass from Megan Del Monte. Northwestern went on a 3-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 6-4 lead. They had a chance to stretch the lead to three goals when Meredith Frank had a point-blank opportunity but Megan Huether stopped the shot and Duke transitioned down the field where Leigh Jester found Cryer at the other end for a goal. Carolyn Davis won the draw for the Blue Devils and Katie Chrest scored 11 seconds later to even the score heading into halftime.

Duke came out of the gates strong in the second half, as Rachel Sanford scored a goal just 23 seconds into the second period. Six minutes into the period, Jester tallied an unassisted goal to put the Blue Devils up by two. The Wildcats would not go away, scoring the next three goals, capped off when Lindsey Munday found Kjellman for the second time in the game to put Northwestern ahead 9-8. At the 17:33 mark, Jester recorded her third assist of the contest when she found Davis to tie the game. Just eight seconds later, Sanford won the draw and passed the ball over the top to a wide open Chrest who beat the Wildcat's goalie Morgan Lathrop to put Duke up by a goal. Just over six minutes later, Kjellman tallied her game-high fourth goal of the game to make the score 10-10, which would stand until the end of regulation.

Chrest led the Blue Devils with three goals and three caused turnovers in the game while Jester tallied a goal and three assists. Chrest and Laura Anderson were each named to the All-Tournament team. Sanford chipped in two goals and an assist along with four draw controls. Megan Huether finished the game with four saves. Kjellman compiled four goals and an assist to lead Northwestern. Aly Josephs scored twice and Munday finished with two assists. Lathrop tallied 10 saves in the win.

The Blue Devils end the season with an 18-3 overall record. The 18 wins are a school record. Duke also set school records for wins over ranked opponents, wins to start a season, home winning streak, season goals, assists and points. They advanced to the Final Four for the third time in school history.