Duke Tops Louisville, 10-8, Wins Ninth Straight

Saturday, March 14

Louisville, Ky.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Louisville

Duke Tops Louisville, 10-8, Wins Ninth Straight

3/14/2015 2:55:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fourth-ranked Duke women's lacrosse team gutted out a 10-8 ACC victory over No. 12 Louisville in a back-and-forth contest Saturday afternoon at UofL Lacrosse Stadium. The Blue Devils (9-0, 3-0 ACC) outshot the Cardinals by a 27-23 margin and kept draw controls close to secure their ninth consecutive win to start the season.

“Both teams really battled from start to finish,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “We're both probably accustomed to scoring more goals, but I thought the effort from both teams was fantastic. I'm really happy with our defensive effort. 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.”

Senior Taylor Trimble led all scorers with a season-high four goals in the win while senior Kerrin Maurer and freshman Kyra Harney contributed multiple tallies. Duke received strong play from its midfield unit as senior Katie Trees and freshman Maddie Crutchfield turned in two caused turnovers apiece, with Crutchfield also adding three ground balls.

Holding a one-goal advantage at halftime, the Blue Devils opened the second period with a solid defensive stand and a marker by Maurer, her second of the day. The Cardinals answered with a scoring burst as Hannah Koloski, Faye Brust and Cortnee Daley all found the back of the net to swing it to 7-6 in Louisville's favor.

“We needed to continue to stick to our game plan,” Kimel said. “I felt like it was working. We just needed to do a better job of offering our individual defenders help on some of their big scorers who were driving to the cage. And I think, as the second half went on, we did a better job of that.”

A Louisville turnover set up Trimble's third goal of the day. The midfielder from Rosemont, Pa., converted on a free position opportunity to tie the game for the fifth time.

With the clock winding down, the Duke defense made a critical stop and senior Erin Tenneson spun and fired to make it 8-7. After Louisville's Kaylin Morissette tied it up again, the Blue Devils forced a turnover in the midfield and regained the lead on another score by Trimble.

After a chaotic sequence of events on the ensuing draw, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea denied the Cardinals on an attempt from the eight-meter and the Duke attack took over with just under four minutes left on the clock. The Blue Devils were forced into a turnover with just over one minute remaining, but subsequently regained possession on a caused turnover and ground ball pickup by Crutchfield.

Trees found Harney with one second left in regulation to close out the two-goal victory.

Trimble put Duke on the board first on a feed from Maurer just over a minute into the contest. Louisville's Morissette controlled the draw early and evened up the score a few minutes later before Maurer and Trimble fired back-to-back goals for a 3-1 advantage.

After several turnovers by both sides, the Cardinals countered with three consecutive scores to take a 4-3 lead with 9:11 remaining in the half. Harney capitalized on a Louisville turnover and after a save by Duryea on a free position attempt, senior Brigid Smith gave the Blue Devils a 5-4 lead at the break.

Morissette, Brust, Daley and Koloski all recorded two goals each for Louisville in the loss. Morissette also won seven draw controls on the day and goalkeeper Ashley Peacock finished with 11 saves while Duryea totaled seven in the net for Duke.

The Blue Devils return to action Saturday, March 21 in a 1 p.m. contest against Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

--- NOTES ---

· Saturday's victory marked the 250th for the Duke program. Head coach Kerstin Kimel has guided the Blue Devils to an all-time record of 250-118 since establishing the program in 1996.

· With its 9-0 ledger, Duke has matched the program's best start to the season. The 2006 squad also started 9-0 and went on to finish 18-3 while claiming the ACC regular season title and reaching the NCAA semifinals.

#GoDuke