With just 56 seconds left on the clock, Brown senior Maddie Joyce capitalized on a turnover to race the ball towards Duke’s net. Just one point down, the Bears were hungry. But their desperation caused a fatal mistake. With seconds left on the clock, Joyce lost possession and with a scoop of the ball by Duke senior Kerry Nease, the Blue Devils — just barely — remained undefeated at home.
In a roller coaster of a match, No. 11 Duke women’s lacrosse earned a decisive 14-13 win over No. 17 Brown in Koskinen Stadium, keeping the stadium clean from a loss. This contest continued a trend of close matches for Duke, which have forced the Blue Devils to fight to the bitter end. Sophomore Bella Goodwin dominated the box score with six goals — her third consecutive game scoring three or more — with some help by Havard transfer Callie Hem, who put four on the board.
Each quarter of the match felt like a new game. The first period saw Duke (10-3, 4-2 in the ACC) facing a nearly impenetrable Bear defense. Less than five minutes into the game, the Bears (7-3, 2-1 in the Ivy League) sent the Blue Devils running around the draw circle as Duke attempted to find an opening in the defensive line. A low shot by Hem wove through the wall, but was stopped by Brown keeper Claire Mahoney.
The Bears took advantage of a slow start by the Blue Devils, capitalizing on repeated ground balls to steal possession from an overwhelmed Duke squad. The Blue Devils answered with defensive dominance of their own, but found themselves locked in a stalemate. In an almost 10-minute stretch, the field saw five turnovers before the ball landed in the back of Duke’s net.
Brown has an exceptionally deep lineup, but was missing a key player for most of the Durham showdown after a non-contact knee injury forced out senior Carly Camphausen in the first period. Even in her ten minutes on the field, Camphausen scored twice — her loss was certainly felt.
Still, the Blue Devils struggled early; they seemed almost frantic in period two as they scrambled to form a plan of attack. Redshirt sophomore Ava Biancardi came to the rescue as the period came to a close. The recent standout has been building her offensive prowess, often scoring at key moments to help the Blue Devils maintain mid-game momentum.
Sheer force never seemed to work against the Bears. The Blue Devils spent much of the first half running themselves ragged trying to claw their way past Brown. After using nearly all of their timeouts in the first half, the team knew a change in strategy was necessary.
Head coach Kerstin Kimel implemented that change at the half. Duke seemed to win the matchup in the third quarter alone, tying its record set just a few days before for most goals in a period. A six-goal run followed by one at the end of the period raised the Blue Devils’ score by seven. Three of the period’s goals could be attributed to Goodwin’s quick thinking inside the draw circle. Each was a result of a free-position shot, but with Brown’s quick responses, it was no easy feat to sneak the ball past the defending line.
Approaching the final period, the Blue Devils held on to a steady 10-5 lead over the Bears. But thanks to dual yellow cards, the home team had played several minutes down two women, and Brown was wearing Duke out. So the Bears were able to close the gap, scoring four goals in the last five minutes of the third frame, while the Blue Devils struggled at controls, to make it 11-9.
Brown’s offensive skill shone in the last moments of the game. In just under three minutes, the Bears scored as many goals, bringing them within one of the Blue Devils. Duke, however, took the final draw control, leaving the Bears without enough time to complete their comeback.
Duke nears the end of regular season play as it looks to face Pittsburgh on the road Saturday.
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