Duke Tops Princeton, 7-3, to Reach NCAA Semifinals

Saturday, May 16

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Princeton - Quarterfinals

Duke Tops Princeton, 7-3, to Reach NCAA Semifinals

5/16/2015 4:27:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The third-seeded Blue Devils turned in one of their strongest defensive efforts of the year, holding Princeton to a season-low scoring output to earn a spot in the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2011 with a 7-3 victory over the Tigers Saturday at Koskinen Stadium.

Duke advanced to the final weekend of college lacrosse for the seventh time in program history while improving to 16-4 on the season. The program also moved to 15-3 all time in NCAA Tournament contests played at home in Durham.

“First of all, I want to congratulate Princeton on an awesome season,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “We knew that they were going to be a great opponent today. I'm so proud of our kids because I knew it was going to take an 'A' class effort to beat them. I thought, particularly on our defensive end, our kids were so tuned in, so dialed in to what Princeton was trying to work for. I thought that was the key to our game.”

As has been the case for much of the season, the Blue Devil attack was balanced in its performance, with six different players finding the back of the net. Senior Kerrin Maurer led the way with two goals to move into second place on the program's career points list with 278 over her four seasons. Maurer also secured a game-high three draw controls to help Duke win the category, 8-4.

Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea paced the defense with five saves while sophomore defenders Isabelle Montagne and Maura Schwitter joined attackers Kyra Harney and Brigid Smith in accounting for one caused turnover each.

The Blue Devils won each of the first three draw controls and grabbed their first lead just over 10 minutes in after an initial Princeton goal by Anya Gersoff. Rookie midfielder Maddie Crutchfield got Duke on the board with a tally from the eight-meter and junior Maddy Acton followed with her 19th goal of the season.

Following a stretch of back and forth play that featured turnovers by both sides, Maurer snapped a 13-minute scoreless span by taking advantage of a restart inside the arc. The Setauket, N.Y., native notched her team-leading 42nd goal of the season to push it to 3-1 with 6:01 remaining in the half.

Duke mustered a solid defensive stand inside the final three minutes of the period, capped by Duryea's second save, and the Blue Devils headed into the locker room at the intermission leading by two.

“Our defenders gave me shots that I could see and that I could save,” Duryea said. “We did a great job executing and playing with heart and hustle for the full 60 minutes.”

The Tigers started the second half with a quick feed from Erin Slifer to Olivia Hompe, marking their first goal since the opening score 37 seconds into the contest. The Blue Devils then strung together consecutive markers, with Harney wrapping around the post and senior Chelsea Landon bouncing one past Princeton goalkeeper Ellie DeGarmo.

Lauren Steidl pulled the Tigers back within two, finishing on a pass from teammate Erin McMunn who regained the ball on a caused turnover. Turnovers continued to plague both teams, but Duke was able to break through again when senior Erin Tenneson found Maurer at the post for her second score of the afternoon. That extended the margin to 6-3 with 15:26 left on the clock.

The Blue Devil defense kept Princeton off the board on the following possession, although the Tigers' DeGarmo continued her strong play at the other end of the field as well and went on to finish with eight saves. Senior Taylor Trimble tallied one final marker with 8.8 seconds remaining to punctuate the quarterfinal victory for Duke.

“It's everybody playing for each other, playing as one unit,” Kimel said. “Anybody can step up at any given moment – we needed people to do that last week and we needed people to do it this week. We did that. And I think it says a great thing about the depth on our team.”

On the day, the Blue Devils led in shots on goal by a 15-8 margin while Princeton held the upper hand in ground balls, 16-11. Both teams committed 11 turnovers apiece.

Duke will meet a familiar opponent in the NCAA semifinals Friday, May 22 at PPL Park in Philadelphia, drawing a matchup with fellow ACC institution North Carolina. The second-seeded Tar Heels advanced with an 11-8 win over Penn State Saturday.

--- NOTES ---

- With her two points on the day, Maurer increased her career total to 278 to move into second on Duke's career points list. She surpassed former Blue Devil player and assistant coach Kristen Waagbo (277 points) and sits nine shy of all-time leader Katie Chrest (287).

- Harney pushed her season goal total to 31, tying her for fourth on the Blue Devils' freshman single season chart.

- The Blue Devils improved to 23-17 all time in NCAA Tournament play and 7-8 in quarterfinal action.

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