No. 21 Duke Defeated by No. 1 Boston College in ACC Opener

Saturday, February 22

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

1 p.m.

Duke University

2-2 (0-1ACC)

Boston College

5-0 (1-0ACC)

Duke

Boston College

No. 21 Duke Defeated by No. 1 Boston College in ACC Opener

2/22/2025 4:58:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Chestnut Hill, Mass. – Top-ranked Boston College scored six of the game's final seven goals to outlast No. 21 Duke, 19-10, in the Blue Devils' ACC women's lacrosse opener Saturday afternoon in the Fish Field House.

Although Duke narrowed the gap to four, 13-9 with 9:16 remaining, Boston College responded with a 6-0 run in a span of 4:21 to seal the win. The Blue Devils' offense was led by sophomore Bella Goodwin, who recorded two goals and an assist. Graduate student Callie Hem, senior Kerry Nease and redshirt sophomore Eva Pronti each added two goals.

How it Happened

Nease won the opening draw control to give Duke the first possession of the game, which led to sophomore Reese Woodworth driving outside the 12-meter fan to feed sophomore Caitlin Barrett, who buried the ball into the back of the net to give the Blue Devils' the 1-0 lead at 13:37.
The Eagles responded with four goals stretching from 13:03 to 8:31, taking the 4-1 lead. Pronti ended Boston College's scoring run by scoring a goal with 6:34 remaining in the first quarter. Neither team found the back of the net in the final 6:30, leaving Duke trailing 4-2 after 15 minutes.
At the start of the second quarter, Boston College went on another 4-0 run to extend its lead to 8-2. Duke answered with a free-position goal from Hem, but the Eagles added another tally before halftime to lead, 9-3, at the half.
In the first half, Duke earned three ground balls, recorded three caused turnovers and junior Kennedy Everson made five saves.
Boston College extended its lead to seven, 10-3, just 30 seconds into the third quarter, but the Blue Devils responded with a 3-0 run, getting goals from Nease, Hem and senior Carly Bernstein. During the third period, Everson recorded three saves, senior Reilly Traynor forced a turnover.
The Eagles scored three goals within the last minute of the third quarter to head into the final quarter up 13-6.
In the fourth quarter, Goodwin got on the scoresheet to start a 3-0 run for the Blue Devils. Pronti scored her second of the game off an assist from Goodwin to make it 13-8, followed by Nease slotting in her second goal of the game at 9:16 to narrow the gap 13-9.
During Duke's 3-0 run, Everson recorded a save, junior Madison Beale and Nease forced turnovers and Barrett, Paci and junior Sydney Smith recorded ground balls.
The Eagles made it 19-9 with six goals in just over four minutes to pull away. Five different Boston College players scored in that stretch.
Goodwin capped Duke's scoring efforts with her second marker of the game with less than two minutes to play to bring the final score to, 19-10.

Notes

Duke leads the all-time series against Boston College, 15-10
The Blue Devils are 2-2 on the season and 0-1 in ACC play
With Carly Bernstein's goal today, she now has 50 career goals
Callie Hem now has 11 goals on the 2025 season and 147 in her career
Duke had four Blue Devils score two goals today: Callie Hem, Kerry Nease, Bella Goodwin and Eva Pronti
Kerry Nease's two goals were her first of the season
Caitlin Barrett recorded a career-high three ground balls
Six different Blue Devils recorded a caused turnover: Madison Beale, Caitlin Barrett, Maddie MacDonald, Reilly Traynor, Mabel Overbeck and Kerry Nease
Bella Goodwin, Reese Woodworth and Caitlin Barrett each recorded an assist
For the second consecutive game, Kennedy Everson recorded 10 saves
Duke was 16-of-18 on clears and 8-of-25 on draw controls