Coming into the second quarter, Duke was down 3-2 to Pittsburgh. It seemed like this contest would be another close matchup, continuing the Blue Devils’ streak of narrow victories eked out at the last minute.
Sixty seconds in, the Panthers’ Jenna Hendrickson earned a green card for offsides. Giving Duke the man-up opportunity, Harvard transfer Callie Hem ricocheted a shot off the post. Senior Mattie Shearer scooped up the rebound, and the ball found its way to attacker Carly Bernstein. The senior fired a pass into redshirt sophomore Ava Biancardi, who quick-sticked a shot past goalie Molly Cain to make it 3-3.
From that point on, the Blue Devils never trailed again.
No. 11 Duke women’s lacrosse nabbed a 14-10 win against Pittsburgh on the road Saturday afternoon, extending its win streak to five games in an important ACC matchup. Hem was the star for the Blue Devils, tallying six goals and an assist. Bernstein put three in the back of the net as well en route to Duke’s fifth conference win of the season.
Following Biancardi’s goal, the Blue Devils (11-3, 5-2 in the ACC) went on a three-goal run to extend their lead to 6-3. Hem scored two of the tallies, while redshirt freshman Lena Doreen earned just her second goal of the season. With the momentum in its favor, Duke looked to be firmly in control of the matchup. But Pittsburgh wouldn’t go away.
The Panthers (6-7, 1-6) won six straight draw controls to close the second quarter, giving themselves plenty of opportunities on the offensive end to capitalize. In just 49 seconds, Pittsburgh scored three quick goals to even the score. A free-position shot from Bernstein gave the Blue Devils a one-goal lead heading into halftime, but the Panthers’ domination at the draw made a win look a lot less certain.
In the second half, it was Duke’s turn to have the draw-control success. The Blue Devils went 7-0 in the center circle during the third quarter, giving them a big possession advantage. Bernstein was the first to cash in, flicking a sidearm shot past Cain with seven seconds left on the shot clock. However, Pittsburgh once again found a way to respond. Junior Kara Trullender fed a cutting Kaitlyn Giandonato right in front of the net, where the sophomore got a wide-open look at goal to make it 8-7. Nearly four scoreless minutes later, Hendrickson scooted around several defenders to put one past goalie Kennedy Everson to tie the contest at eight apiece.
Duke did not panic in the face of Pittsburgh’s determination to keep the game close. The Blue Devils kept winning the draw and went on another three-goal run in the span of two minutes. Hem used her 5-foot-10 frame to nab a feed out of the air before firing it past Cain to regain the lead for Duke. The former Harvard attacker scored another shortly after, making it 10-8 for the Blue Devils. A free-position goal from freshman Maddie MacDonald gave the visitors a three-goal lead as the third quarter came to a close. Paige Telatovich scored for the Panthers, but Duke maintained the edge for the remainder of the game.
In the final 15 minutes of play, the Blue Devils held firm, refusing to let Pittsburgh back into the contest. The only goal on the stat sheet for the Panthers came from Giandonato with less than five minutes left on the clock. Other than the lone tally, Duke dominated defensively while scoring three goals to seal the victory and head back to Durham with heads held high.
The Blue Devils will look to carry their success into a matchup at Louisville Saturday before facing off against rival North Carolina in their final game of the season April 17.
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Mackenzie Sheehy is a Trinity junior and associate editor for The Chronicle's 120th volume.