Duke Comeback Falls Short Against Johns Hopkins, 9-8

Sunday, May 3

Durham, N.C.

11:30 AM

Duke University

Johns Hopkins

Duke Comeback Falls Short Against Johns Hopkins, 9-8

5/3/2015 3:56:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Fourth-ranked Duke battled back after falling behind 18th-ranked Johns Hopkins, 9-1, but the early deficit proved too much in a 9-8 loss to the Blue Jays Sunday at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils dropped to 14-4 heading into Sunday evening's NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Selection Show, slated for 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Duke's attack was held to its second-lowest scoring output of the year in the regular season finale. All eight of the Blue Devils' goals on Senior Day were tallied by members of the senior class, led by midfielder Taylor Trimble's three. Classmate Katie Trees added two markers and an assist in the loss.

Trailing 7-1 at halftime, the Blue Devils found themselves up against an eight-goal deficit just over 10 minutes into the second period. The squad responded by shoring up its defensive effort and mounting a furious rally on the offensive end. Senior Kerrin Maurer ended a 36-minute scoring drought with an unassisted tally, and Trimble followed with three consecutive goals to cut it to 9-5 with 11:17 remaining.

“We had to make some big-time adjustments,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “We tried to make some small ones at halftime. Those didn't work, so then we had to call timeout and make some big ones. I think that's really a positive thing. We haven't been in many situations this year where we've been down, and I thought we fought back hard. It shows that we're adaptable.”

Trees, who supplied the assist on Trimble's third score, then drove to the cage to extend the Blue Devils' run. After a couple of turnovers by both sides, the margin remained at three with time winding down. Senior Erin Tenneson converted on a free position opportunity with 1:29 on the clock, and Trees stuck another shot from the eight-meter with just under a minute to play. However, Johns Hopkins won the ensuing draw and maintained possession to run out the remaining time.

“Hopkins played a great game,” Kimel said. “We knew that this was going to be a dicey game in terms of when we had it scheduled, playing them right before NCAAs. But you have to be able to show up and play a 60-minute game, and we played about a 30-minute game … It was a little too much too late.”

Senior Brigid Smith netted Duke's lone goal of the first half on a free position opportunity just over six minutes in. The Blue Jays jumped out to the decisive lead behind three first-half tallies by Haley Schweizer and two by Dene' DiMartino, who also finished with a hat trick.

For the contest, the Blue Devils outshot the Blue Jays but went just 4-of-9 on free position attempts. Duke also held the advantage at the draw, 11-8, but ground balls were in the visitors' favor, 10-7.

Senior attacker Chelsea Landon won a season-high three draw controls while DiMartino won eight for Johns Hopkins. Defensively, senior Gabby Moise turned in two caused turnovers and junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea posted four saves to six by KC Emerson of the Blue Jays.

Sunday also marked Senior Day for the program's eight seniors – Landon, Maurer, Moise, Smith, Tenneson, Angel Thompson, Trees and Trimble. The group has guided Duke to a 51-25 record over the past four seasons.

“This is a really special group,” Kimel said. “Nearly all of them have been on the field in some capacity since they were freshmen. I think that speaks to their four years. They've been the core of this team for a long time. To their credit, they own everything – they own their mistakes, they own their successes. I'm proud of them because that shows a level of maturity that they've gained over the years of experiencing lots of different things on different teams they've been on here.”

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