Blue Devils Knock Off No. 4 Dartmouth 12-8

Sunday, May 8

Durham, N.C.

TBA

Duke University

Dartmouth

Blue Devils Knock Off No. 4 Dartmouth 12-8

5/8/2005 1:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

May 8, 2005

Box Score |  Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. - Fueled by the recent ACC Championship and the impending NCAA Tournament, the second-ranked Blue Devils knocked off No. 4 Dartmouth, 12-8, Sunday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. With the win, Duke (15-3) matches the school record for wins in a season, a feat previously achieved by the 2001 squad who went 15-4 through its appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Leigh Jester led the Duke attack Sunday, scoring four goals on four shots in the first half and added one assist to help the Blue Devils to their 10th win in the last 11 games and fifth straight. Michelle Menser added three goals for her second hat trick of the season, while Megan Huether was spectacular in goal, making 13 saves, including four of the Big Green's free position shots.

Duke opened the game with a 6-0 run with three tallies coming from Jester within the first 10 minutes of action. The Ridgewood, N.J., native opened scoring just over three minutes into the game with an unassisted goal and Kristen Waagbo followed with another just nine seconds later off an assist from Katie Chrest. Menser found the back of the net on a free position shot with 25:14 to play in the first half before Jester rattled off two of the next three by the 20:52 mark, sandwiching a tally from Jessica Adam on a free position goal.

Dartmouth's leading scorer Katieanne Christian put the Big Green on the board for the first time with an unassisted goal, but Stefanie Sparks fired back with a goal from Caroline Cryer to send the Blue Devils to a 7-1 advantage. Whitney Douthett brought the game to within five before Jester closed out the half with her fourth goal, coming off a pass from Katie Laschinger, to send the teams into the locker rooms with an 8-2 score.

After Chrest opened the second period with her lone goal of the game, Dartmouth scored four of the next five to bring the score to 10-6 with 16:16 to play. Waagbo scored Duke's fourth free position goal in five attempts to stretch the margin back to five, but Kristen Barry brought it back to within four two minutes later. Menser added her final goal of the game with just under four minutes left before Christian netted an unassisted goal with 1:27 to play to close out scoring for both teams.

The Blue Devils await tonight's NCAA Tournament selection show on CSTV at 9:00 p.m. to find out the seedings for this year's tourney. The first round of postseason action is set for Thursday, May 12, on campus sites.