Duke Grounds Eagles on Senior Day, 12-8

Saturday, April 9

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Duke Grounds Eagles on Senior Day, 12-8

4/9/2016 4:15:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

WLAX vs. BC: Senior Day Highlights WLAX vs. BC: Kerstin Kimel Postgame INT WLAX vs. BC: Kyra Harney Postgame INT WLAX vs. BC: Maddy Acton Postgame INT WLAX vs. BC: Highlights Photo Gallery Season Statistics Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Fifteenth-ranked Duke outscored No. 11 Boston College 5-1 in the final 18 minutes to key a 12-8 victory over the Eagles Saturday at Koskinen Stadium. The Senior Day win sent the Blue Devils to 9-5 on the season and 4-1 in ACC play, while Boston College dropped to 7-6 overall and 1-5 in conference action.

Sophomore Kyra Harney and senior Maddy Acton both earned hat tricks with four and three tallies, respectively. Sophomore Grace Fallon chipped in a career-high two goals, with both coming during the Blue Devils' final run.

Defensively, junior Isabelle Montagne registered two caused turnovers and senior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea totaled 11 stops in the net.

“For us to have won two really tough games against Boston College and Virginia is a testament to this team's hard work, character, willingness to continue to work hard as the season goes along and adapt,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “Everybody that we've played has us differently, has defended us differently. We've had to continuously change our game plan, week-to-week. For a young team and a young offense, I think we've adapted really well.”

Acton, Harney and senior attacker Kelci Smesko paced Duke to an early 3-1 lead but Boston College remained within striking range for the rest of the opening period. Tess Chandler and Kenzie Kent notched two goals apiece for the Eagles before Harney converted at the eight-meter mark with just over three minutes remaining to give the Blue Devils a 7-4 halftime advantage.

Boston College put together a 3-0 run at the beginning of the second half, with Kate Weeks scoring once and Chandler twice during that span. Chandler's fourth of the day knotted the game at 7-7 with 19:42 to play.

Fallon provided the answer for the Blue Devils, rattling off two straight markers on assists by Acton and sophomore midfielder Maddie Crutchfield. After Kent trimmed the margin to one again at 9-8, the Duke defense held the Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the contest.

The Blue Devils won two of the final three draws and junior Hayley Shaffer, Harney and Acton each found the back of the net to seal the victory.

“Just getting everybody on the same page in terms of what we were trying to accomplish offensively, and then a couple of adjustments defensively helped us gain back the momentum there,” Kimel said. “Liv Jenner did a really good job on the draw in the second half as well.”

Freshman Olivia Jenner corralled a game-high seven draw controls as Duke edged Boston College in the category, 12-10. Crutchfield added four draws to go along with five ground balls.

The Blue Devils held a narrow 23-22 advantage in shots on the day, while the Eagles led in ground balls, 19-14.

Boston College goalkeeper Zoe Ochoa finished with seven saves.

Saturday marked Senior Day for eight Blue Devils – Acton, Abby Beltrani, Duryea, Kaki Jennison, Emma Lazaroff, Jordan McCarthy, Claire Scarrone and Kelci Smesko. The group has guided Duke to a 50-24 record in four seasons.

“This could be my last game on Koskinen, somewhere that's been really special to me the last four years and for our entire program,” Acton said. “Senior Day is about your class and something bigger than you, so to walk off with a win today feels really good.”

Following Saturday's regular season home finale, Duke heads to Notre Dame Saturday, April 16 for a 12 p.m. matchup with the Fighting Irish.

--- NOTES ---

- Sophomore attacker Kyra Harney collected her team-leading eighth hat trick of the season after being shut out in last Sunday's loss at No. 4 Syracuse. Senior Maddy Acton joined Harney in notching a hat trick, her third of the season and second in as many games.

- Sophomore Maddie Crutchfield picked up five ground balls to surpass her previous career high of three.

- With 66 draw controls on the season, freshman Olivia Jenner moved into a tie for fifth on the Blue Devils' single season chart.

- Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea finished with double-digit saves for the fifth time this spring.

#GoDuke