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WLAX Flashback: Duke Reaches Sixth Final Four with Win over Florida
5/21/2020 5:09:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
In what would be the 2020 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament, GoDuke.com chose to take this opportunity to highlight Duke's seven Final Four teams – 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2015.
Head coach Kerstin Kimel and the Duke women's lacrosse team reached its sixth NCAA Semifinals with a 13-9 win over No. 4 Florida on May 21, 2011 after closing the game on a 5-0 scoring run.
After going 13-2 through the regular season, the 2011 Duke women's lacrosse team was prepped and ready to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. The team had been knocked out of the tournament in the NCAA Quarterfinals the previous two years, and the senior class was geared towards replicating the success their team had as freshmen – the NCAA Semifinals.
"Our senior class in 2011, having experienced a Final Four in 2008, felt strongly about wanting to be able to lead the 2011 team back to the Final Four," Sarah Ballard said. "That was ingrained in our minds as a senior class. It was huge motivation point, to lead and inspire our team to get there which is such a special accomplishment."
The Blue Devils performed well in the first round and beat Penn, 12-9. Just two weeks before, in Duke's last game before the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils lost to Penn in Philadelphia, 13-10.
Now, Duke was in the quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive year with another chance to reach a Final Four. The Blue Devils were the fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament and slated to travel to Gainesville, Fla., to face the fourth-ranked Florida Gators.
Duke prepared hard in the six days leading up to the game in the Sunshine State, with one main emphasis from the coaches and longtime Duke women's lacrosse athletic trainer Jen McCollum – hydrate.
"It was insanely hot," Ballard said. "I remember a couple days going into the game Kerstin, our assistants and Jen were relentlessly all over us to make sure we were hydrating. It sort of feels like your mom annoying you, but honestly I felt like it was one of the things that help us win the game. The day of the game we were high energy, and it seemed like we were fresher and withstand the heat better than Florida did, ironically."
"A big thing for us was ensuring that we could keep our stamina up during the game, knowing that it was going to be a really exhausting game," Kat Thomas said. "I distinctly remember the coaching staff forcing water on us the entire time leading up to the game. I don't think anyone made it through our pregame film session without having to take a bathroom break."
Florida's Dizney Stadium was fairly new, along with the school's program, but it didn't faze Duke. The Blue Devils were amped up and ready to go.
"One would think that our decision to wear the black uniforms was not the best one because of the heat, but I think it ended up being the boost we needed," Emily Hamm reflected. "The badass confidence of the black uniforms helped us come out firing."
Duke took a 4-2 lead in the opening 10 minutes. Florida responded with a goal at 16:54, but Duke then kept the Gators quiet while netting two more to close the half. Duke held a 6-3 lead at intermission.
The momentum shifted in the opening minutes of the second half. Florida scored four of the first five goals in first six minutes of the second stanza, tying the game at 7-7.
Kat Thomas scored her second on the day to restore the Duke lead, but Florida's Janine Hillier answered by scoring a pair to give the Gators a 9-8 lead with 17:26 to play. The goal gave Florida its first lead since scoring the game's opening goal at 27:53 in the first half.
The Blue Devils refused to back down. Ballard scored off a Christie Kaestner assist to tie it before Hamm assisted a Molly Quirke goal gave Duke the lead again at 13-13.
"I vividly remember hitting a super excited, streaking Quirke for a big goal at the end of the game," Hamm said. "I don't think I'd ever seen her express so much excitement than in that moment."
There was still plenty of time left on the clock, but Duke held strong. The Blue Devils tacked on three more goals for insurance, completing a 5-0 scoring run to end the game.
"At that point it was a combination of hydration and preparation paying off where we had the energy to go for this final burst," Ballard continued. "That's where I honestly give credit to my classmates, because I think there was this sheer will that we are going to do this and we are going to will our teammates to come back in this game and will ourselves to the Final Four."
"At the end of the day, I just remember it being a really fun game," Thomas said. "Everyone was really celebrating one another, and we were feeling good. We were just a very cohesive unit and just executed on our game plan."
Although slated as the underdogs, the Blue Devils left Gainesville with a win and secured their sixth Final Four appearance in program history.
#GoDuke
Head coach Kerstin Kimel and the Duke women's lacrosse team reached its sixth NCAA Semifinals with a 13-9 win over No. 4 Florida on May 21, 2011 after closing the game on a 5-0 scoring run.
After going 13-2 through the regular season, the 2011 Duke women's lacrosse team was prepped and ready to make a run in the NCAA Tournament. The team had been knocked out of the tournament in the NCAA Quarterfinals the previous two years, and the senior class was geared towards replicating the success their team had as freshmen – the NCAA Semifinals.
"Our senior class in 2011, having experienced a Final Four in 2008, felt strongly about wanting to be able to lead the 2011 team back to the Final Four," Sarah Ballard said. "That was ingrained in our minds as a senior class. It was huge motivation point, to lead and inspire our team to get there which is such a special accomplishment."
The Blue Devils performed well in the first round and beat Penn, 12-9. Just two weeks before, in Duke's last game before the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils lost to Penn in Philadelphia, 13-10.
Now, Duke was in the quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive year with another chance to reach a Final Four. The Blue Devils were the fifth seed in the NCAA Tournament and slated to travel to Gainesville, Fla., to face the fourth-ranked Florida Gators.
Duke prepared hard in the six days leading up to the game in the Sunshine State, with one main emphasis from the coaches and longtime Duke women's lacrosse athletic trainer Jen McCollum – hydrate.
"It was insanely hot," Ballard said. "I remember a couple days going into the game Kerstin, our assistants and Jen were relentlessly all over us to make sure we were hydrating. It sort of feels like your mom annoying you, but honestly I felt like it was one of the things that help us win the game. The day of the game we were high energy, and it seemed like we were fresher and withstand the heat better than Florida did, ironically."
"A big thing for us was ensuring that we could keep our stamina up during the game, knowing that it was going to be a really exhausting game," Kat Thomas said. "I distinctly remember the coaching staff forcing water on us the entire time leading up to the game. I don't think anyone made it through our pregame film session without having to take a bathroom break."
Florida's Dizney Stadium was fairly new, along with the school's program, but it didn't faze Duke. The Blue Devils were amped up and ready to go.
"One would think that our decision to wear the black uniforms was not the best one because of the heat, but I think it ended up being the boost we needed," Emily Hamm reflected. "The badass confidence of the black uniforms helped us come out firing."
Duke took a 4-2 lead in the opening 10 minutes. Florida responded with a goal at 16:54, but Duke then kept the Gators quiet while netting two more to close the half. Duke held a 6-3 lead at intermission.
The momentum shifted in the opening minutes of the second half. Florida scored four of the first five goals in first six minutes of the second stanza, tying the game at 7-7.
Kat Thomas scored her second on the day to restore the Duke lead, but Florida's Janine Hillier answered by scoring a pair to give the Gators a 9-8 lead with 17:26 to play. The goal gave Florida its first lead since scoring the game's opening goal at 27:53 in the first half.
The Blue Devils refused to back down. Ballard scored off a Christie Kaestner assist to tie it before Hamm assisted a Molly Quirke goal gave Duke the lead again at 13-13.
"I vividly remember hitting a super excited, streaking Quirke for a big goal at the end of the game," Hamm said. "I don't think I'd ever seen her express so much excitement than in that moment."
There was still plenty of time left on the clock, but Duke held strong. The Blue Devils tacked on three more goals for insurance, completing a 5-0 scoring run to end the game.
"At that point it was a combination of hydration and preparation paying off where we had the energy to go for this final burst," Ballard continued. "That's where I honestly give credit to my classmates, because I think there was this sheer will that we are going to do this and we are going to will our teammates to come back in this game and will ourselves to the Final Four."
"At the end of the day, I just remember it being a really fun game," Thomas said. "Everyone was really celebrating one another, and we were feeling good. We were just a very cohesive unit and just executed on our game plan."
Although slated as the underdogs, the Blue Devils left Gainesville with a win and secured their sixth Final Four appearance in program history.
#GoDuke
Andie Smith, Duke | Interview | CGN
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