Duke Falls to Syracuse, 14-10, in ACC Semifinals

Friday, April 24

Charlottesville, Va.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Syracuse (Semifinals)

Duke Falls to Syracuse, 14-10, in ACC Semifinals

4/24/2015 6:27:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The second-seeded Blue Devils got out to a quick start but ultimately saw their run in the 2015 ACC Women's Lacrosse Championship come to an end in a 14-10 semifinal loss to sixth-seeded Syracuse Friday at Virginia's Klöckner Stadium.

Duke, ranked third in the current Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association poll, slipped to 14-3 on the season with the result.

“We struggled to win draws and we gave Syracuse possession,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “Syracuse has a great offense and they fired on all cylinders. We did a lot of good things, but we did not have the ball enough. We felt confident that if we had the ball, we would create good scoring opportunities. We did that at points in the second half, but we did not capitalize on enough of our scoring opportunities. We got the looks, but we did not finish. If you don't do that, you are probably going to go home with a loss.”

The Blue Devils' senior class registered seven of the 10 goals on the afternoon, with Kerrin Maurer, Brigid Smith and Taylor Trimble supplying two each. Maurer also notched two assists for a team-high four points while Trimble won four draw controls. Defensively, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea made nine stops in the net.

After the first half ended in a 6-6 tie, the Orange took their first lead early in the second on back-to-back tallies by Riley Donahue and Loren Ziegler. Donahue then added another to give Syracuse seven unanswered goals before Duke snapped its drought on a feed from Maurer to junior Emma Lazaroff. That marker ended a 21-minute scoreless streak and pulled the Blue Devils within two at 9-7.

The Orange took advantage of wins at the draw, tacking on two scores to spread the margin to four with 17:35 to play. Duke responded on a feed from Maurer inside to freshman Kyra Harney, and following Duryea's seventh save of the day, received a goal from another rookie in Maddie Crutchfield to narrow it to 11-9.

Syracuse's Ziegler and Duke's Trimble each stuck shots from the eight-meter after long offensive possessions by both teams. The Blue Devils generated another offensive opportunity on a draw control win by junior defender Claire Scarrone and went a man-up on a Syracuse yellow card, but were unable to convert. Donahue and Halle Majorana added scores inside the final five minutes to close out the 14-10 victory for the Orange.

Duryea gave the Blue Devils momentum early, posting three saves inside the first seven minutes of play. The Duke attack capitalized on the defensive performance, taking a 4-1 lead on two goals by Smith and one each from classmates Trimble and Maurer.

The teams swapped scores over the next few minutes, with senior Katie Trees and Maurer both putting away looks for the Blue Devils, but it was Syracuse that controlled the draw for much of the first half. The Orange utilized possession to fuel a 4-0 run that left the game tied at 6-6 with 9:28 remaining in the period. Turnovers on both ends of the field kept the score at 6-6 heading into the break at the half.

For the game, Syracuse held the upper hand at the draw (15-11) and in ground balls (13-12), although Duke totaled 24 shots to 23 by the Orange. The Blue Devils were held to 1-of-5 on free position attempts in the loss.

Duke concludes regular season play Sunday, May 3 in a 11:30 a.m. contest against Johns Hopkins at Koskinen Stadium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3, and the team's eight seniors will be honored at the conclusion of the contest.

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