Bernstein, DeSimone Lead Duke Past No. 22 Harvard, 15-13

Tuesday, March 12

Durham, N.C.

6 PM

Duke University

5-4

Harvard

4-1

HARVARD

Duke

Bernstein, DeSimone Lead Duke Past No. 22 Harvard, 15-13

3/12/2024 9:52:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM – Attackers Carly Bernstein and Katie DeSimone combined for 13 points to help lead Duke women's lacrosse past No. 22 Harvard, 15-13, Tuesday evening in a non-conference matchup at Koskinen Stadium.

This was Duke's first ranked regular-season win since April 16, 2022 when it knocked off No. 2 Boston College. The Blue Devils improve to 4-3 this spring and hand Harvard its first loss of the season (4-1).

DeSimone tallied four goals and three assists while Bernstein notched three goals and dished three dimes in the victory. Junior Mattie Shearer converted on a career-high two goals and an assist, including the last goal with 1:41 remaining in the contest.

Kerry Nease grabbed a career-high 16 draw controls as Duke won that battle, 21-10, while midfielder Maddie McCorkle paced the defense with four ground balls and a career-high three caused turnovers.

Goalie Courtney Kaufman came off the bench and only allowed one goal in 16:29 and registered two saves to collect the win.

How It Happened

The first half featured three ties in the back-and-forth affair and was all tied up at 3-3 after the first 15 minutes of action. Bernstein led the way with a goal and an assist early.
Duke took its first lead of the game (4-3) at 12:41 in the second quarter before it gave up four consecutive to the Crimson. The Blue Devils hung tough and tied it up (7-7) with 1:35 remaining in the opening half, but gave up two goals in 15 seconds to give Harvard the 9-7 edge at the break.
At the break, Duke outshot Harvard, 17-15, and were leading on the draw circle, 12-6.
DeSimone and Bernstein scored or assisted on three goals together. They helped pull Duke within one, 9-8, early in the third quarter.
The two teams then traded two goals back-and-forth until 9:46 in the fourth quarter.
Harvard's Charlotte Hodgson found the back of the cage for the first time all evening to give them the lead (13-12).
Shearer found DeSimone for the equalizer, 13-13, at 6:33 and sparked a 3-0 run to end the game.
Harvard was flawless on clears, 22-for-22, while Duke went 16-for-20.

Notables

It was head coach Kerstin Kimel's 345th-career victory and the 341st at the helm of the Blue Devils.
This was the first matchup between the two programs.
DeSimone now owns 241 career points to rank sixth in program history. She is 46 points shy of tying Duke great Katie Chrest Erbe's all-time points record of 187.
DeSimone tallied her 30th-career hat trick and her 32nd game with four-or-more points.
DeSimone has been Duke's leading scorer in all of its nine games this spring.
Bernstein's six points tied her career high.
Defender Kay Conway picked up a career-high four ground balls.
Harvard was led by Callie Hem and Caroline Mullahy with four points each. Goalie Chloe Provenzano tallied 10 saves between the pipes.

Up Next

Duke travels to Blacksburg, Va., to take on the Hokies Saturday at noon on ACCNX.

For more information on Duke women's lacrosse, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "DukeWLAX.

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