Balanced Effort Leads Duke Past No. 8 Virginia, 15-10

Saturday, March 30

Durham, N.C.

1 PM

Duke University

8-5 (3-3ACC)

Virginia

9-3 (3-3ACC)

Virginia

Duke

Balanced Effort Leads Duke Past No. 8 Virginia, 15-10

3/30/2024 5:22:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

DURHAM - Caroline DeBellis and Katie DeSimone combined for 13 points and helped lead a balanced attack to a 15-10 Duke victory over No.8 Virginia, Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.

With the victory, the Blue Devils improve to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play and hand the Cavaliers just their third loss this season (9-3, 3-3 ACC). This marked Duke's highest ranked win since April 16, 2022 when it knocked off No. 2 Boston College.

DeBellis strung together a career-high six goals and an assist while DeSimone collected four goals and two dimes on the afternoon. Carly Bernstein dished a tied-for-career-high four assists as 13 of Duke's 15 goals were assisted. Duke also shared the wealth as 10 different players registered a point.

Defensively, goalie Kennedy Everson was stellar between the pipes with a .524 save percentage with a tied-for-career-high 11 saves. Virginia's 10 goals are tied for the second fewest by the team this spring, a credit to Duke's locked-in defense. Margaret Anne Warner led the team with three ground balls and a caused turnover, while Kerry Nease and Reese Woodworth combined for 12 draw controls.

How it Happened

Virginia was first on the board with two scores from Kiki Shaw and Kate Miller before Duke closed out the period with two tallies from DeBellis and one from McCorkle.
The Cavaliers added two more to lead by one (4-3) before Duke outscored Virginia 10-2, a run that spanned 25 minutes.
DeSimone tallied three consecutive goals in three minutes, giving Duke an 8-4 lead at halftime.
Virginia cut the deficit to three (8-5), but that would be as close as it would get the rest of the way. Duke ended the third quarter on a 4-1 run with three goals from DeBellis.
The Blue Devils were held scoreless for 11 minutes in the final frame while Virginia added four goals, but the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

Notables

It was head coach Kerstin Kimel's 348th-career victory and her 344th at the helm of the Blue Devils.
The all-time series moves to 27-18 in favor of Virginia.
Duke moves to 5-3 in contests in Durham this season.
DeSimone now owns 257 career points to rank fourth in program history. She is 30 points shy of tying Duke great Katie Chrest Erbe's all-time points record of 287.
DeSimone now owns 185 career goals to rank third in program history. She is 31 goals shy of tying Chrest Erbe's all-time goals record (216).
DeSimone has registered a hat trick in 32 contests and 34 games with four-or-more points.
Virginia was led by Katia Carnevale with a goal and two assists.

Looking Ahead

Duke will have a quick turnaround with a Monday night contest against Campbell at Koskinen Stadium.

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

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