Duke Women’s Lacrosse Wins ACC Home Opener

Friday, February 28

Durham, N.C.

2 p.m.

Duke University

Notre Dame

Duke Women’s Lacrosse Wins ACC Home Opener

2/28/2025 5:09:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 21 Duke women's lacrosse team returned home and returned to the win column Friday with an 11-9 triumph versus No. 17 Notre Dame. A strong start to the second half put the Fighting Irish up 8-7, but the No. 21 Blue Devils had the answer in the fourth quarter, scoring four of the game's final five goals to earn the victory.

Duke's offense featured four Blue Devils with two goals each and redshirt freshman Eva Pronti's three assists. Sophomore Bella Goodwin added two assists to her two goals to finish with a game-high four points.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Kennedy Everson tallied nine saves and has at least nine in each of her last three games. The Fighting Irish held a 28-24 advantage in shots and an 18-17 edge in shots on goal, but the Blue Devil defense forced four turnovers and was 19-of-21 on clears.

With the victory, Duke improved to 3-2 overall and evened its ACC record at 1-1. Notre Dame dropped to 2-3 and 0-2 in league play.

How it Happened

After a Notre Dame goal from Kristen Shanahan started the scoring, Duke went on a three-goal spurt to take a 3-1 lead with nearly eight minutes to play in the opening quarter. Senior Carly Bernstein joined freshmen Maddie MacDonald and Sadie Stafford in finding the back of the cage to power the early offensive run.
Notre Dame got a goal back with 1:41 remaining in the first as Shanahan tallied her second of the frame.
The Blue Devils answered with the first two goals of the second quarter to push their lead to three at 5-2. MacDonald registered her second while redshirt sophomore Ava Biancardi added her first goal of the game.
The two teams exchanged goals heading into halftime with Duke keeping a two-goal advantage at intermission, leading 6-4.
Notre Dame took advantage of the early portion of the third quarter to go on a 4-1 spurt and take its first lead of the game at 8-7. Kathryn Morrissey tallied the first in the Irish run to make it a 6-5 Duke lead.
Blue Devil senior Mattie Schearer nabbed her fourth goal of the campaign, off an Eva Pronti assist, to push Duke up 7-5 with 10:28 remaining in the third.
The Fighting Irish ripped off three consecutive goals to take an 8-7 advantage with 3:30 left in the third.
Graduate student Callie Hem responded quickly, scoring less than two minutes later, to tie the game at 8-8 heading into the final quarter.
Hem pushed the Blue Devils back in front 9-8 with 13:54 to play. The strike gave her 42 career multiple-goal games.
Seconds later, Schearer struck again off an assist from Bernstein to increase the Duke lead to two at 10-8.
At 5:59 in the third, Notre Dame got its final strike with a Madison Rassas goal.
The Blue Devils added a final tally, sophomore Bella Goodwin's second of the afternoon, in the closing minutes for the 11-9 final.
Notre Dame registered just one shot after Goodwin's goal as Duke secured the win.

Notes

Duke took a 14-13 lead in the all-time series with Notre Dame and improved to 6-4 in Durham.
Freshman Maddie MacDonald tallied a career-high two goals after entering the contest with one this season.
Redshirt freshman Eva Pronti set her career high with three assists. She has at least two assists in four of Duke's first five games.
Sophomore Bella Goodwin carded two assists and two goals. She owns at least three points in all five games this season.
Senior Carly Bernstein tallied two assists and a goal and has scored in all five games this season.
Sophomore Caitlin Barrett registered five draw controls, marking her career high.
Junior Madison Beale tied her season high with two caused turnovers. She has at least one caused turnover in all five games this season.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Kennedy Everson finished with nine saves and has nine or more in her last three games.