Duke Drops 11-8 Thriller to Wildcats in Top-Five Battle

Sunday, February 7

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Duke University

Northwestern

Duke Drops 11-8 Thriller to Wildcats in Top-Five Battle

2/7/2016 3:08:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

WLAX Highlights: Blue Devil Goals WLAX: Kelci Smesko Postgame INT WLAX: Kelsey Duryea Postgame INT WLAX Highlights: Duryea Posts 16 Saves WLAX: Olivia Jenner Postgame INT WLAX: Kerstin Kimel Postgame INT Photo Gallery Season Statistics Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea notched a career-best 16 saves, but the fourth-ranked Duke women's lacrosse team was unable to take advantage of late opportunities, falling 11-8 to No. 5 Northwestern Sunday. The Blue Devils dropped to 1-1 on the season following the top-five matchup at Koskinen Stadium.

Duryea also registered a career-high seven ground balls while keeping the Wildcats off the board for a key 21-minute stretch in the second half. Offensively, the squad was led by two-goal performances from sophomore Kyra Harney and freshman Olivia Jenner, as well as a goal and two assists by senior midfielder Maddy Acton. Jenner also contributed five draw controls in her first collegiate start.

“This is going to be a really great opportunity for us to grow,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “We're pretty young in a lot of places, we're missing some key people right now. But it's not an excuse and I think some of them just need game experience … There's a lot of positives we take from it. I think our kids adjusted well as we changed some things both offensively and defensively. We're going to learn a lot about ourselves, and I think that's one of the best parts of playing a game like this early.”

Trailing 6-5 at the half, Duke surrendered two quick goals to Northwestern early in the second period. That gave the Wildcats six unanswered, with Selena Lasota accounting for three in that span. Acton finally responded for the Blue Devils and Jenner followed a short while later with back-to-back tallies. Her second, which came off of a Duryea save at the other end, tied up the contest at 8-all with eight minutes remaining.

Northwestern won each of the next three draws, though, and saw Kaleigh Craig and Lasota score within 30 seconds of each other. Danita Stroup added a man-up goal for the Wildcats and the Blue Devils struggled to come up with an answer offensively in the waning minutes. Duke went 0-for-4 on free position shots in the second half and committed seven turnovers each period to just eight total turnovers by Northwestern.

“There were times, especially in the first half, I thought we moved the ball really well, with speed,” Kimel said. “The second half, we weren't moving the ball as well and we weren't getting our shots off as well. It was a little bit of what they were doing defensively and we were overthinking things. We hit some pipes too, and looking back on that, we have to be able to finish on those opportunities that we create for ourselves. I think had we done that, obviously we would have been more competitive in the second half.”

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with Duke jumping out in front initially, 5-2. Harney found the back of the net twice in the first 15 minutes, and sophomore Stuart Humphrey, senior Kelci Smesko and junior Hayley Shaffer also converted. Duryea made nine of her 16 saves in the first period to fuel the strong start.

The Wildcats received five goals from Lasota and three from Sheila Nesselbush, who combined with teammate Shelby Fredericks to win eight of the team's 12 draw controls. Northwestern held the edge in that category for the contest, 12-9, while outshooting the Blue Devils by a 31-24 margin.

Northwestern goalkeeper Mallory Weisse finished with eight saves in the winning effort.

Duke will see its first road action of the 2016 season this weekend, traveling to Navy Saturday, Feb. 13 for a 1 p.m. contest at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

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