Duke women's lacrosse continues ACC dominance against No. 16 Virginia

Duke has had its struggles this season—just not against ACC opponents.

Behind 12 saves from Kelsey Duryea, four goals and one assist from Kyra Harney and a hat trick from Maddie Crutchfield, No. 13 Duke held off No. 16 Virginia 11-8 Saturday at Koskinen Stadium for its second top-20 victory in the last three weeks. The Blue Devils withstood multiple comeback attempts from the Cavaliers in the second half, maintaining at least a three-goal lead throughout the period to stay unbeaten in conference play.

Duke raced out to a quick 6-1 lead in the first half and rode that momentum into the locker room with an 8-2 halftime lead. Everything was working for the Blue Devils, as their strong defensive play and ability to clear the zone led to numerous offensive chances. When needed, Duryea bailed out her defense with a highlight-reel save to stop a Virginia attacker in front on a two-on-one opportunity.

“We did a good job pushing the tempo in the first half and really finding a good balance between pushing tempo when we had opportunities and also getting settled into a rhythm on offense. I thought that created some really good looks for us,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “We did a good job limiting the kind of looks they wanted in the first half and forcing them to take some of those outside shots that Kelsey [Duryea] was really ready for.”

But Virginia fought back to start the second half, scoring three straight goals and forcing Kimel to call a timeout to settle down her squad. After Duke (8-4, 3-0 in the ACC) managed to get through the first 15 minutes of the half, the Blue Devils retook control for the rest of the game.

The Cavaliers (5-6, 0-4) won the battle at the draw circle, frustrating Duke freshman standout Olivia Jenner by winning 14 of the 21 draw controls. Virginia dominated in nearly every possession statistic—taking more shots, winning more draws, snagging more groundballs and committing fewer turnovers—but Duryea was the difference-maker.

Compared to Duryea’s 12 saves on 20 shots, Virginia goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk—who came into the contest saving nearly 44 percent of attempted shots on goal—registered only three saves on 14 shot attempts. The Blue Devils stayed patient and shot only when there were high-percentage scoring opportunities to be had.

Duryea also received help from a stout defense in front of her, clearing the way in order for the Beverly, Mass., native to properly track the ball. Even as Virginia tried to stay close the second half—outshooting Duke 13-5 in the final 30 minutes—the Blue Devil defense cleared the ball on 15 of 16 opportunities, limiting multiple opportunities for the Cavaliers attack to capitalize.

“We were really working on staying on our matchup, but also working on moving on a string and playing good transition defense as a unit. I was given a lot of shots that I was able to save,” Duryea said. “This week, we worked really hard on our fundamentals—our one-on-one defense, our sliding and I think our defense played outstanding to let me make those saves.”

Virginia’s Kasey Behr and Posey Valis—the team’s top two points leaders—registered hat tricks for the Cavaliers, and four different Virginia players picked up three groundballs.

Duke still needs to work on not letting up for the entire 60 minutes, with contests looming against No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 6 Syracuse and No. 10 Boston College. But, behind Duryea’s 12-save performance, the Blue Devils escaped with a victory, and will have a week to prepare for next Sunday’s matchup with the Orange on the road.

“At this point in the season, we are just happy to have won an ACC game. The ACC this season is an absolute dog-fight,” Kimel said. “It is so much one game at a time, one performance at a time. We’ll take a good, hard look at what we didn’t do well against Virginia and try to take two steps forward without taking a step back next week. I think our team has done a good job of not looking too far ahead and just staying focused on these next couple of weeks we have.”