Duke Wins Sudden-Death OT Thriller With Hidden Ball Play, 19-18 At Virginia

Saturday, March 31

Charlottesville, Va.

12 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia

Waagbo Named WomensLax.com And Inside Lacrosse Player Of The Week

Duke Wins Sudden-Death OT Thriller With Hidden Ball Play, 19-18 At Virginia

3/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- No. 5 Duke (9-1, 2-1 ACC) came back from a six-goal deficit twice to defeat No. 4 Virginia (9-2, 2-2 ACC), 19-18 in a sudden-death, double-overtime contest. The Blue Devils tied the game with :20 seconds remaining in regulation and then senior midfielder Rachel Sanford scored the only extra period goal with :13 seconds left in the second overtime. Senior attackers Kristen Waagbo with six goals and two assists and Leigh Jester with five goals and one assist all in the second half led the Duke offensive effort.

The game did not start off on the right foot for Duke as they fell behind 5-1 midway into the first half. Virginia sophomore attacker Ashley McCulloch notched two goals in that stretch and finished with three scores and one assist on the day.

After two Duke goals sandwiching one Virginia tally, the Cavaliers went on a three-goal run that gave them their first of two six-goal leads, 9-3, with less than six minutes remaining in the first frame. The Blue Devils would narrow the gap slightly to 10-5 going into the locker room. Waagbo and junior attacker Caroline Cryer led the way for Duke in the first period with two goals each. The 'Hoos had six different players score their 10 first half goals, and seven players score overall in the contest.

The Blue Devils would score seven of the first nine goals in the second half to tie the game at 12-12 with 18:35 left. Waagbo, Sanford and Jester would all score two goals a piece in that run to help Duke get back into the game. Junior goalkeeper Regan Bosch saw her largest amount of playing time this season, playing the first 24:30 of the second half and recording three saves. Sophomore Kim Imbesi was in the net for the remaining 44:17 and made eight saves in that time.

The rest of the match would be a dogfight, as the lead went back and forth and neither team was able to take more than a two-goal lead. There would be six ties and three lead changes throughout the course of the game, with all but one tie coming in the second stanza.

Duke went down 14-12 before scoring three consecutive goals-- including two by Jester-- to take a 15-14 lead with 8:46 remaining. Virginia would answer by scoring four of the next five goals to take a two-goal lead with less than two minutes left.

The 'Hoos were led by freshman midfielder Brittany Kalkstein and senior midfielder Jess Wasilewski with four goals each. All of Wasilewski's goals came in the second half, including the one with 1:41 left in the game the put the Cavaliers up 18-16 and appeared to seal the Blue Devils' fate.

What happened in the next 101 seconds would provide more than enough drama for the game, despite the fact that it still needed overtime to be decided. Duke won the face-off after Wasilewski's fourth tally, and Jester immediately hit paydirt for her fifth goal to cut the deficit to one. After losing the following face-off, three turnovers occurred within one minute-- two by Virginia surrounding one by Duke-- after which Cryer scooped up a ground ball. She made a pass to Waagbo who shot and scored with :20 seconds remaining to knot the game, 18-18. Duke was unable to capitalize on winning the last draw control of regulation and the game headed into extra time.

The Blue Devils would dominate in the first six-minute regulation overtime, out-shooting the Cavaliers 7-0 and having possession for more than five minutes. Despite that control Duke was unable to find the net and the sudden-death overtime began.

That period would go back and forth and come down to the closing seconds. With :35 seconds remaining, Virginia sophomore attacker Blair Weymouth had her shot blocked by sophomore defender Christina Germinario, who was able to initiate a clear that led to a foul by Kalkstein and a re-start by Cryer.

Cryer passed the ball down the left sideline to Germinario, who in turn flung a pass to Jester in the left corner. Jester moved behind the crease, flipped the ball to Waagbo who was directly behind the net, and without stopping came flying up the front right of the crease acting as if she still was cradling the ball. Waagbo took a couple of steps toward the left of the goal and made a smart pass to a streaking Sanford, who quickly caught and finished with her left to win the game off of the improvised hidden ball play.

That set off an on-field celebration by the Duke bench which was halted by a referee checking the legality of Sanford's stick. The stick cleared regulation and the Blue Devils took home the victory.

Cryer finished with four goals, two assists and an amazing seven draw controls on the day. She now has 35 goals through 10 games for Duke, averaging 3.5 per game. Cryer also leads the team in draw controls with 32.

Waagbo set the all-time Duke assists record on Feb. 18 against Stanford. She now has 93 career assists after tallying 21 in 10 games. Waagbo is within range of several other records this season as well. Her own Duke record of 32 assists in one season (2006) is likely to fall at the pace she is on. Waagbo currently has 139 career goals which are good for fifth place behind former Duke standout Lauren Gallagher with 140. Katie Chrest holds the school record with 216. Waagbo's 224 points are third on the all-time Duke list, with Chrest in first with 287 and Tricia Martin in second with 236.

Duke will embark on a two-game midwest road trip next week, playing games at Notre Dame on Thurs., April 5 at 4 p.m. EST and at Northwestern on Sat., April 7 at 2 p.m. EST. Those will be the second and third games of the Blue Devils' four consecutive contests away from home.

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