No. 3 Duke Women Down No. 18 Dartmouth for Fifth Straight
from press release
DURHAM, N.C. – Nine different Blue Devils
scored goals as the third-ranked Duke women’s lacrosse team
opened with a 9-0 run to earn a 15-7 decision over No. 18 Dartmouth
Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
Duke (8-1, 1-1 ACC) dominated the first half, limiting Dartmouth
(3-2) to one goal on five shots while tallying nine goals over the
first 26:30. The Blue Devils’ defense kept the Big Green off
the scoreboard for the majority of the opening period as Dartmouth
went without a goal until just over a minute remained in the
opening stanza. The second half was a closer affair with both teams
scoring six goals, but Dartmouth was never able to trim the Duke
lead to fewer than seven the remainder of the way.
"I am so proud that our team came out and delivered such a tough
performance on the day in which we were honoring 'Sweet Meg' and
her family," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "Our team has battled
and grown tremendously through this stretch and we look forward to
a few very deserved days off before we begin preparing for our next
stretch of games."
Senior Christie Kaestner, who finished with three goals and two
assists, opened the scoring for Duke two minutes in and freshman
Molly Quirke found the back of the cage on a free position shot 30
seconds later to ignite the Duke run. With the goal, Quirke has
tallied at least one score in each of the past four games to total
seven on the season.
After taking a 5-0 lead at the 17:04 mark, redshirt junior Emma
Hamm recorded back-to-back scores, both assisted by Kaestner, to
give Duke a seven-goal margin. Hamm finished the day with a
game-high six points on five goals and an assist, pushing her
team-leading goal total to 27 on the year.
Duke concluded the run with tallies from Kaestner and classmate
Virginia Crotty before Dartmouth’s Kat Collins ended the
first half and the Blue Devils’ streak with 1:08 left in the
half. Both Crotty and junior Amanda Jones finished the day with a
goal and two assists for the Blue Devils.
The Big Green’s Greta Meyer opened the second stanza with an
unassisted tally as Dartmouth looked to generate some momentum, but
two goals from Hamm and a tally from freshman Taylor Virden put the
game out of reach. Three unanswered goals from Dartmouth cut the
Duke advantage to seven with 11:25 to play, but the Big Green would
come no closer the rest of the way.
Dartmouth’s offense was paced by Liz Calby and Kirsten
Goldberg with two goals each, while freshman goaltender Kristen
Giovanniello recorded 13 saves. In net for Duke, junior Mollie
Mackler posted seven saves in the win.
Following the game, Duke recognized the family of Meg Wasley, a
close friend of the program, in a post-game ceremony as part of
“Meg’s Game,” to honor the life and memory of
Wasley. The Blue Devils held a silent auction as well to raise
money for the Duke Children’s Hospital in remembrance of
Wasley.
Next week kicks off a four-game road swing for the Blue Devils,
starting with a 1 p.m. game against Virginia on Saturday, March 26
in Charlottesville, Va. Duke will also travel to Northwestern,
Boston College and Brown before returning home April 15 to face
North Carolina.
