ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 15 Navy women's lacrosse team (2-1) withstood a second-half rally by No. 21 Duke (2-2) to hold on for a 16-15 victory on Sunday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Midshipmen led 14-6, but seven straight goals by the potent Blue Devil offense closed the gap to one. Navy pushed the advantage to three goals late before holding on for the one-goal win.
"Duke came in here with a lot of amazing athletes and have been able to put a lot of goals," head coach
Cindy Timchal said after the game. "We had concerns, but we gutted out the second half. It wasn't pretty, but we will take it. We had to step up and be tough. You expect an ACC team like Duke to respond and they did. We held up and passed that test today. I am proud of the team and of Navy women's lacrosse."
Leading 13-6 at halftime, Navy opened up the second half with a goal by
Marina Lazarides (Westminster, Md.) to take an eight-point lead. Duke, who entered the game with 20 or more goals in each of its three previous games, posted a 7-0 run over the next 14 minutes to trim the margin to 14-13.
Kayla Harris (Annapolis, Md.) responded with a goal to end the run and push the Midshipmen advantage to two with 9:41 to play. With just under five minutes to play,
Reagan Roelofs (Apple Valley, Minn.) slipped a pass from
Kelly Larkin (Alexandria, Va.) past the goalie to give Navy a 16-13 lead.
Back-to-back goals by Duke trimmed the margin to one with 34 ticks on the clock. Navy won the ensuing draw control, but the Blue Devils caused a turnover to take control of the ball with 17 seconds remaining. The visitors called a timeout to set up the offense for the final play. Duke's Katie Cronin fired a shot with one second remaining that was just wide of the goal to preserve the win for Navy.
The Midshipmen were led offensively by Larkin who finished the game with eight points on five goals and three assists. Her first assist gave the senior the Navy record in career helpers, passing Jasmine DePompeo (2010-13) who finished her career with 167. Harris finished with five points on three goals and two assists, while Roelofs tied a career-high with four goals in the game.
Ellie Lecker (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) and
Nicole Victory (Issaquah, Wash.) chipped in three points apiece (1g 2a each), while Lazarides added a pair of scores.
Defensively,
Abbi Young (Alamo, Calif.) finished the game with 10 saves, giving the sophomore 22 stops on the week. The victory marked the second win against a ranked opponent in her young career. In addition, Young picked up a ground ball and caused a turnover.
Annalise Heyward (Charlotte, N.C.) led the team with four of Navy's eight caused turnovers. Harris finished the game with a team-high three ground balls, while Larkin, Roelofs, Heyward, and
Erin Carson (New Albany, Ohio) added two GB each.
In the draw circle, the Mids went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country in draw controls. Navy edged Duke, 17-16 in draws on the day. Harris paced the team with a career-high 11 draw controls on the day, while Roelofs added five draws.
In the first half, the game was back-and-forth for the first 20 minutes of play, leaving the game tied at 5-5. Navy closed out the final 10 minutes of the first stanza with an 8-1 run. Lazarides opened the run with a goal off of Larkin's record-breaking assist. Harris notched back-to-back goals before Duke found the back of the net. Larkin scored a pair of goals around a Victory score. Roelofs closed out the half with a pair of goals to put the Mids up 13-6 at intermission.
The win over Duke was the first in program history for Navy, snapping a five-game winless streak. The victory was the fifth for the Midshipmen against an ACC opponent in program history.
Navy returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 22, as the Midshipmen host Villanova at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Opening draw is slated for 12:00 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available throughout the game.
