Duke Headed to NCAA Quarterfinals with Win over USC

Sunday, May 10

Durham, N.C.

2:00 PM

Duke University

Southern California - Second Round

Maurer Collects Lacrosse Magazine All-America Honors

Duke Headed to NCAA Quarterfinals with Win over USC

5/10/2015 5:39:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Four Blue Devils turned in hat tricks and junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea anchored the defense with eight saves to keep Duke's NCAA Tournament run alive with a 17-9 second round victory over Southern California Sunday at Koskinen Stadium. The third-seeded Blue Devils (15-4) secured a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals for the 11th consecutive season and will face Princeton next weekend in Durham to vie for a trip to the national semifinals.

Senior attacker Kerrin Maurer headlined a balanced offensive attack with four goals and two assists in the win. The Setauket, N.Y., native delivered a historic performance, surpassing former Blue Devil player and assistant coach Kristen Waagbo to become the program's all-time leader in career assists with 117 over her four seasons.

Fellow seniors Brigid Smith and Taylor Trimble and freshman Kyra Harney joined Maurer in notching hat tricks, while senior Katie Trees recorded a career-high four assists to go with two goals. Michaela Michael, Cynthia Del Core and Amanda Johansen paced the Trojans' attack with two tallies apiece.

“We looked like a little bit of a different team than we were last week, which was great,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “That's a testament to a hard week of practice and a tough look at ourselves. Our kids were really sharp in terms of knowing the game plan and what our looks need to be. The fact that we were able to gain some momentum out of transition really helped.”

The Blue Devils capitalized on early success at the draw, jumping out to a 5-1 advantage less than seven minutes into the opening period behind a hat trick from Trimble. Junior Maddy Acton and Maurer also added scores before Cynthia Del Core of Southern California answered to cut it to 6-2.

Maurer assisted senior Chelsea Landon on a goal midway through the period and added one of her own less than two minutes later on a pass from Trees to extend Duke's lead to 8-2. USC's Amanda Johansen then netted her second of the day, and after a patient Blue Devil possession resulted in a Trees goal, the Trojans put together consecutive tallies to close out the half trailing by just four at 9-5.

Duryea concluded the first period with four saves and Duke held the edge in ground balls and at the draw by a 9-3 margin. The Blue Devils also led in shots for the first 30 minutes, 20-11.

A Duryea save just minutes into the second half kept the score at 9-5, and Harney followed by finishing on a feed from Trees. Maurer's second assist on a Smith goal pushed the margin back to six and gave the senior 117 assists for her career. That moved her ahead of Waagbo for the all-time program record, and placed her sixth in the ACC's career record book.

“Kerrin is a very unselfish player,” Kimel said. “When you look at someone that has that many assists, it shows. Certainly Kerrin gets enough of her own looks, which is great. But she knows when to distribute, when to finish. I'm proud of her. It's a great notch to leave here with.”

Southern California countered with three straight markers, including two from leading scorer Michael, who had been held without a goal until 24:54 in the second half. Trees found Harney for her fourth assist a short while later to snap what was nearly a 10-minute drought for the Duke attack. The Trojans' Del Core took advantage of a Blue Devil turnover in the backfield before Duke closed the contest on a 5-0 run to put the final margin at eight goals.

Maurer won six draw controls to give the Blue Devils a 17-11 advantage in the category. Trees and Landon also corralled three each while Michael had six wins for Southern California. Sophomore defender Isabelle Montagne led the defense with two caused turnovers. Ground balls were even for the contest at 13-all, and Duke outshot the Trojans 31-21.

“I still feel like we haven't hit our ceiling yet,” Kimel said. “We still have a lot of room we can improve. For us, you separate what can we do to improve us in the coming days, the early part of the week. And then our shift comes to preparing.”

#GoDuke