The Blue Devils clinched a key conference win on a long and blustery day in Newton, Mass.
No. 5 Duke defeated No. 3 Boston College 13-8 Saturday afternoon in a game that lasted more than two and half hours at Newton Campus Lacrosse and Soccer Field. The victory avenged two straight losses for the Blue Devils in their series with the Eagles and propelled them to a solo lead atop in the ACC standings, but it did not come easily.
"It was just one of those games where a lot of different things happened that you don't have a lot of control over," Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "I'm just happy that our kids were tough and persevered and were able to manage the big lulls where we weren't playing it all on the field."
The Blue Devils (12-1, 5-1 in the ACC) struck first on a goal from senior attack Brigid Smith in the first two minutes, followed by two consecutive goals from classmate Taylor Trimble to put Duke up 3-0 without a Boston College response.
But the Eagles (11-2, 4-2) showed why they entered the game tied with the Blue Devils atop the league standings refused to be held scoreless. Ranked tenth nationally in scoring offense with 14.42 goals per game on average, Boston College found the back of the net with the help of junior midfielder Sarah Mannelly, who ties for the second-most goals scored on the squad this season and got the Eagles started after a slow start.
"We knew we had to have a good defensive game," Kimel said. "At this point in the season we've been able to watch a lot of film, and [we've] watched a lot of different teams do a lot of different things and throw a lot of different defenses at them, and they've still been able to score a ton of goals, so I was really proud of our defensive effort."
With a strong defense to provide momentum, Duke scored three goals in a little more than four minutes to make the score 6-1, but the Eagles managed a goal just before the half expired to cut the gap to four.
Boston College scored first to open the second half, and the two teams traded scores, netting four total goals—two apiece—in the first six minutes of play. Leading 8-4 with 23 minutes to play, the Eagles scored three unanswered goals in less than two minutes, bringing the score to 8-7 and forcing Kimel to call a timeout.
"I think our kids at that point were really tired," Kimel said. "We needed to just refocus and remember what our plan was and what we were trying to do, and I just think we needed a pause to collect ourselves during that run."
The break proved to be exactly what the Blue Devils needed. Coming out of the timeout, Smith netted her third goal of the game to give her squad a two-goal cushion right away—the hat trick marked her fifth of the season, a team high. Boston College's attempted response ended in a save by Duke goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea—one of eight on the day—and allowed the Blue Devils to regain possession.
The two teams traded turnovers, neither managing a goal for more than 13 minutes since Smith's third score. Senior attack Kerrin Maurer ended the drought with her first goal of the game and 27th of the season, bringing the score to 10-7 with 6:19 to play. Continuing the strong offensive play from the Duke seniors, Trimble added another to make it 11-7—the Blue Devil seniors finished with 12 of the team's 13 goals.
"We're a mature team, and we have a lot of seniors on the field," Kimel said. "I think mature teams can react to timeouts well and handle those breaks in a good way."
With less than two minutes remaining in the lengthy match—play stopped twice due to injuries on the field—the Eagles netted one past Duryea to make the score 11-8, but Smith and freshman Kyra Harney took away any chance of a last-minute comeback with two goals in 30 seconds to finish the day with the 13-8 win.
The Blue Devils have only lost once all season and have just two more contests before the postseason begins. Kimel's squad will retake the field Thursday with a non-conference matchup against Ohio State back home at Koskinen Stadium.
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