After falling short to Princeton last Wednesday by a score of 10-7, the Duke women's lacrosse team cranked out two wins this past weekend in what proved to be a successful trip Washington, D.C.
Though the team cruised fairly easily to a 10-5 win against John Hopkins yesterday, their matchup against Georgetown proved to be a bit more challenging. Lead by sophomore attacker Lauren Gallagher, the Blue Devils were engaged in a back and forth battle, sealing their 8-7 victory with a goal near the end of the game.
Duke midfielder Kate Soulier opened goal scoring for Duke at the 6:30 mark in the game. The Hoyas quickly responded with two goals, but Soulier struck again at the 18-minute mark to tie the game. With a goal four minutes later, senior Courtney Rodgers reclaimed the lead for the Blue Devils, 3-2.
The game became a defensive battle at that point, with both goalies making key save after key save. Georgetown's Anouk Peters slipped a ball past Duke goalkeeper Kristen Foster with only one minute remaining in the half to tie the score at a score of 3-3.
Gallagher netted the first goal in her hat trick in the opening minutes of the second half, giving Duke a narrow lead once again. After Cheryl Horton added another goal to the Duke lead, the Hoyas charged right back with a two-goal streak to tie the game 5-5. Duke and Georgetown traded goals yet again in the 20th minute as Gallagher and Anouk tallied their second goals of the contest.
The contest remained in question throughout the remaining 10 minutes, but the Blue Devils finally pulled ahead for good when Gallagher scored her third goal and Kelly Dirks registered her second goal of the day in quick succession with about eight minutes left in the game.
Although Melissa Ellers added one last strike for the Hoyas with 30 seconds remaining, , the Blue Devils came out on top by a score of 8-7, breaking Georgetown's 13 match home winning streak.
The Duke women were back in action again yesterday as eight different attackers contributed goals to the defeat of No. 17 Johns Hopkins.
Although the game remained tied at 1-1 in first 10 minutes, Gallagher, Claire Finn, Meg Barnet and Kate Kaiser scored, bringing the Blue Devils to a commanding 5-1 lead. Hopkins attacker Marlena Wittelsberger trimmed the Duke lead 5-2 at the 5:41 mark, but Duke would record two more goals, one each from Lauren Kickham and Dirks before the half.
Soulier claimed her second free position goal of the game to begin the second half, augmenting the Duke lead 8-2.
Duke's Jessica Bennett and Kaiser would add two more goals before the Blue Jays attempted a final comeback. Though Heidi Pearce netted two back-to-back breakaway goals for Hopkins, her rally was not enough to conquer the five-goal deficit.
Kristen Foster's 19 saves, as well as a tenacious Duke defense, discouraged the final scoring attempts for Hopkins.
The team is back in action tomorrow night when it takes on the Davidson Wildcats at Koskinen Stadium.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.