Overview
After a bleak 2023 season where nothing went according to plan, the Blue Devils came into 2024 needing to turn the page on disappointments past and look toward a winning future. Yet Duke found itself right where it left off. In the first game of the season, the Blue Devils took on a Navy team that challenged it to the bitter end. Despite a late fourth-quarter spree, the story of Duke’s season unfolded: a team with plenty of talent and heart, but too inconsistent across 60 minutes of play to pull out crucial victories.
After a 9-10 defeat from the Midshipmen, Duke alternated between wins and losses for the first month of the season. Big triumphs against the likes of High Point and Winthrop were sandwiched between blows against ranked opponents in then-No. 13 Johns Hopkins, then-No. 19 Clemson and then-No. 4 Syracuse. The main bright spot in that stretch was senior attacker Katie DeSimone, whose monstrous goalscoring numbers put the nation on notice.
The Blue Devils seemed to get back on track for a three-game win streak in the middle of the season, starting with their first ACC victory against Pittsburgh. Riding that momentum, Duke took down then-No. 22 Harvard in thrilling fashion, outscoring the Crimson 4-1 in the fourth quarter to eke out the 15-13 win. A 9-8 triumph on the road at Virginia Tech seemed to be a sign of good things to come for the Blue Devils.
Duke, however, quickly found its hopes dashed against the likes of stronger ACC opponents. While they pulled out an incredible team win against then-No. 8 Virginia through dominance all game long, the Blue Devils struggled to stand up to conference powerhouses in Boston College, Notre Dame, Syracuse and North Carolina. Against each of these perennial threats, Duke lost by five goals or more, rarely having control of the contest. The one exception came against the Tar Heels in the team’s final regular-season game, where the Blue Devils only trailed by one going into the halftime locker room before North Carolina put up 6 goals in the third quarter to run away with the rivalry matchup.
In postseason play, Duke struggled to put together any sort of underdog run. The Blue Devils got a tough draw in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament, falling 5-19 to the Eagles, who would go on to become national champions. Still, Duke found an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, to the surprise of many, but blew it in the first round. Then-No. 8 Loyola Maryland proved to be too much for head coach Kerstin Kimel’s squad as the Greyhounds sent the Blue Devils back to Durham in a disappointing 11-16 loss that was close until the fourth quarter.
Duke now faces another offseason where it will look to regroup and refresh for 2025. -Mackenzie Sheehy
Results relative to expectations
Inside Lacrosse’s coaches' poll ranked Duke at preseason No. 24. Coming off a shaky 8-10 2023 campaign and losing marquee players like draw control specialist Maddie Jenner and the defensive duo Cubby Biscardi and Maddie Johnston, the future looked uncertain. Chronicle beat writers predicted the Blue Devils to go 5-4 in the ACC and lose in the ACC quarterfinals; they went 4-5 and fell in the quarterfinals to eventual national champions Boston College 19-5. The Chronicle’s highest record prediction was 13-4 and its lowest 11-6, with a consensus loss in the NCAA quarterfinals. But Duke went 10-9 overall and lost in the NCAA first round to Loyola 16-11.
This proved a slight improvement from missing the tournament entirely in 2023, but still disappointing for a program where being a title contender every season is the standard. Duke finished its lackluster spring right where it started, at No. 24. -Audrey Davies
Best win
The highlight of the Blue Devils’ season was undoubtedly their 15-10 triumph over No. 8 Virginia on March 30. Just a week earlier, they had fallen 18-3 to Boston College in a demoralizing loss, meaning they still had not beaten a ranked ACC opponent since 2022. The home win would be a deciding factor in the team going from first-out to last-in come decision day for the NCAA tournament. Duke’s stars shone — attackers Caroline DeBellis and Katie DeSimone combined for 10 goals — and goalie Kennedy Everson tied her career high 11 saves. Having struggled against ranked opponents the past two seasons, the game was a glimpse of what the Blue Devils are capable of when they get hot on both sides of the ball. -Davies
MVP: Katie DeSimone
Katie DeSimone’s final season as a Blue Devil was nothing short of legendary. Duke’s victories, if few, came on the senior’s heels, as she demonstrated leadership and expertise in crucial moments. DeSimone scored hat-tricks in 14 of 19 games and accumulated more than five points in 11 games. In total, she found the back of the net a career high of 63 times this season, a testament to her impressive speed, shooting and stick skills all season. Apart from her goals scored, the Bay Shore, N.Y. native also made notable appearances on the stat sheet with her 22 assists, tallying her point total to 85. DeSimone has made history in this lacrosse program, becoming the first player in Duke history to amass 190 career goals and 75 assists. -Riya Khatod
Accolades
As the undisputed star of this year’s roster, DeSimone brought home several awards after her monster season. She received multiple forms of national recognition, including Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association (IWLCA) Third Team All-America honors and All-American Honorable Mention from Inside Lacrosse. The St. Anthony’s product was tabbed to the IWLCA All-South Region First Team and named a nominee for the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the best college players in the sport. Within the conference, the attacker was tabbed to the All-ACC First Team, her fourth time receiving an All-ACC accolade.
Senior Maddie McCorkle and junior Reilly Traynor were recognized on the region’s second team.
While the Blue Devils’ season may have been disappointing, the future is bright with the team’s young talent. Freshman Bella Goodwin — who started in 10 games for Kimel — got a nod on the All-ACC freshman team. Classmate Caitlin Barrett also has big things ahead, as the midfielder will travel to Sparks, Md., at the end of June to participate in the 2024 U.S. Women’s U20 National Team training camp.
On the coaching side, Kimel grabbed her 350th career win at the helm of the program this season following Duke’s 14-11 win against Louisville in its last home game of the year. -Sheehy
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Mackenzie Sheehy is a Trinity junior and associate editor for The Chronicle's 120th volume.