When Duke faced off against East Carolina nearly exactly a year ago, it was a defensive masterclass. Both teams combined for only four goals in the fourth quarter as the Blue Devils emerged victorious in a 14-12 win. Duke’s offense just barely saved the day 365 days later.
The 12th-ranked Blue Devils eked out a 14-13 victory against the Pirates Tuesday night, despite a six-goal fourth quarter from East Carolina. Senior Carly Bernstein and sophomore Bella Goodwin led Duke’s attack with three goals each, while eight different players found the back of the net. The victory brought the Blue Devils to 8-3 on the season and marked the program’s eighth win against the Pirates.
“Good teams have to win ugly games, and tonight’s [was] very ugly,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said after the contest.
With 1:23 left in the contest, Bernstein put Duke up 14-10, taking advantage of a double team to get a wide-open look at the goal and completing her hat trick. A victory for the Blue Devils seemed all but assured at this point, and players high-fived the senior attacker. While Duke celebrated, however, East Carolina prepared to strike.
Junior Kayla Wilkes won the next draw for the Pirates and sprinted into the attacking third. She tried to evade several Duke defenders before finding the stick of attacker Rachel Chessock in the middle of the eight meter. The junior cradled twice before firing a high shot past goalie Kennedy Everson to make it 14-11. Just like that, the comeback was on.
Nineteen seconds later, Katelyn Sclafani placed one in the back of the net. Twelve seconds after that, Wilkes took it straight to the cage once she won the draw control, slicing through the Blue Devils’ defense with ease. In less than a minute of play, the Pirates made it a one-goal game and put the pressure on Duke to come up with a response.
“I don’t think defensively we were as tough as we’ve been,” Kimel said. “We were probably not doing a great job of slowing the ball down.”
With 23.8 seconds on the clock, Wilkes won another draw control and found the stick of a streaking Leah Bestany. The senior was shoved over by midfielder Kerry Nease with 11 seconds left to play near the goal line extended to draw a foul, giving East Carolina one last shot at evening the score.
In the end, the Blue Devils’ defense held firm, forcing Wilkes to make a dangerous shot that hit a Duke defender. Wilkes earned a yellow card, and the Blue Devils got possession to put the game away.
The fourth quarter wasn’t the only time the Pirates put pressure on Duke to perform. After tying things up at 3-3 in the initial 15 minutes of play, East Carolina took its first lead of the game at the start of the second quarter. Off a free-position opportunity, Wilkes dodged a charging defender to place a high shot past Everson, putting the Pirates up 4-3.
The goal seemed to be a wake up call for Everson, who made three successive saves to stymie East Carolina’s building momentum. On the offensive end, the Blue Devil attackers did their part, starting with a left-handed sidearm shot from Sadie Stafford to even things up. The freshman’s tally kicked off a four-goal run for Duke, bringing the score to 7-4 heading into the halftime locker room. Nease, senior Mattie Shearer and Bernstein each netted one before jogging off the field.
“I felt like everything we were shooting at their goalie was low and she was saving it. Once we kind of adjusted and started shooting high…we were more comfortable scoring,” Kimel said. “I felt like we were able to loosen up a little bit.”
In hopes of continuing their win streak, the Blue Devils will return to ACC play Saturday as they take on Virginia Tech at home.
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Mackenzie Sheehy is a Trinity junior and associate editor for The Chronicle's 120th volume.