Mollie Mackler could only put the team on her back for so long.
Despite a career day from the junior goalkeeper, Duke’s offense disappeared down the stretch, as No. 2 Northwestern (10-0) rallied to defeat the Blue Devils 12-10 Saturday.
“I’m disappointed because we played our game,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “We played tough, aggressive, really scrappy. But in the second half, we just didn’t finish plays.”
In spite of being outshot 21-13 throughout the first half by the Wildcats, No. 3 Duke (9-2) led 7-5 at halftime thanks to a stellar performance from Mackler. Mackler made 15 saves in the first half alone, including stopping the first nine Wildcat shots on goal. This allowed Duke to jump out to an early lead following back-to-back goals by Emma Hamm and Kat Thomas.
“Mollie had an unbelievable performance,” Kimel said of the junior goalie, who also stopped eight of nine Wildcat free-position shots in the first half. “She was just absolutely amazing.”
Mackler would finish the game with a career-high 20 saves, but received almost no help offensively from Duke in the second half. Amanda Jones’s goal gave the Blue Devils a three-goal lead three minutes into the second period, but a variety of turnovers and missed scoring opportunities allowed Northwestern to close out the game on a 7-2 run.
“In the second half we didn’t finish on our shots and we turned the ball over too often,” Kimel said. “I think those were the two big things. I felt like we were on the doorstep, just we missed the cage or shot right at the goalie.”
Jones and Hamm were the only Blue Devils to find the back of the cage in the second half, each finishing with three goals. Hamm’s goal with just under 10 minutes remaining tied the game at 10, but Northwestern dominated possession toward the end, running out the final five minutes.
“We were careless with the ball in transition a few times, and it’s a shame because some of those turnovers came after we made great stops,” Kimel said. “Northwestern is a great team and they make you pay for your mistakes, and they definitely did that Saturday.”
Duke was just 3-for-14 shooting and committed eight turnovers in the second half.
The Blue Devils have now lost seven straight games to the Wildcats, including two last season, the last of which knocked Duke out of the NCAA tournament.
“We have to have a more productive second half,” Kimel said. “You’re not going to win many games against top-five teams doing that.”
Saturday was not the first time that the Blue Devils dominated the first half, only to appear to wilt as the game progressed. This season, Duke has more than doubled its opponents’ scoring output in the first half, outscoring other teams 98-46. They haven’t earned nearly such an advantage in the second half, with a 68-68 tally. The Blue Devils have held early leads in both of their losses this season, only to watch those leads disappear down the stretch.
Kimel acknowledged that her team’s focus needs to be on closing out games.
“Overall, as a team we are very disappointed that we didn’t finish this game,” she said. “Our whole mentality going into the game was if we battle this team for 60 minutes we will do great. We really battled in all aspects of our game, for only about 45 minutes.”
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