Northwestern
Duke
Wildcats Fall to No. 4 Duke, 15-9
2/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
Feb. 22, 2004
Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
DURHAM, N.C. - The Northwestern women's lacrosse team gave fourth-ranked Duke all it could handle Sunday afternoon at the Blue Devils' Koskinen Stadium, but fell short of pulling off the upset, 15-9.
Corinne Broesler, Katie Chrest, Kristy Dirks and Michelle Menser each registered three goals to pace the Blue Devils, while Katie Laschinger and Kristen Waagbo each recorded three assists.
Northwestern struck first as Laura Glassanos scored 4:06 into the contest. Chrest knotted the contest at 1-1 at the 9:35 mark off an assist from Waagbo, but the Wildcats responded with the next three goals to take a 4-1 lead 13:01 into the game. Sarah Albrecht, Lindsay Finocchiaro and Kristen Kjellman netted the NU goals.
"I was pretty pleased with the game today," said NU head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. "We got up on them early on, and I think we threw a little scare into them."
The Blue Devils came out of a timeout and received an offensive spark from Menser -- she collected goals at the 13:13 and 16:47 marks to narrow the deficit to 4-3. However, Aly Josephs and Finocchiaro added goals in the next five minutes to give the 'Cats a 6-3 advantage.
Duke then erupted for four consecutive goals before halftime. Menser got the Blue Devils started with her third goal of the day at 22:52, and then Broesler scored 21 seconds later off a pass from Waagbo before assisting on Kristy Dirks first goal of the day with 25:04 gone by in the contest. Broesler added another goal with just 2:23 remaining in the half to give Duke a 7-6 lead at the break.
Broesler picked up where she left off, scoring her third goal of the day, before Northwestern's Jenny Bush sandwiched a pair of goals around a Chrest goal to help the 'Cats close to within one goal at 9-8.
Duke took command after that, though. Senior Meghan Miller and Dirks alternated scoring the next four goals to push the Blue Devils into a commanding 13-8 lead with just over 10 minutes left to play, and Waagbo added her third goal of the season at the 50:48 mark.
Josephs collected her second goal of the game at 53:30 -- joining teammates Bush and Finocchiaro with multi-goal games -- to close out NU's scoring. Wildcat goalie Ashley Gersuk registered 11 saves on the day.
"We had some problems getting control of the ball on draws," said Amonte Hiller (Duke collected 17 draw controls, while the 'Cats had nine). "But overall, I think this is a good start to the season and we are anxious to get back after it again next weekend."
Northwestern travels to Rutgers next Saturday, taking on the Scarlet Knights at 1 p.m. EST (noon Central).
GAME SUMMARY
Score by Half
Northwestern (1-1) 6 3 - 9
Duke (2-0) 7 8 - 15
Goals
Northwestern: Josephs 2, Bush 2, Finocchiaro 2, Albrecht, Glassanos, Kjellman.
Duke: Broesler 3, Chrest 3, Dirks 3, Menser 3, Miller 2, Waagbo.
Assists
Northwestern: Albrecht 2, Glassanos, Josephs.
Duke: Laschinger 3, Waagbo 3, Broesler, Walters.
Goalie Saves
NU - Gersuk 11; DUKE - Huether 6.
Shots: Duke 34, NU 23
Free-Position Goals/Att.: NU 2/6, Duke 1/2
Ground Balls: Duke 25, NU 9
Draw Controls: Duke 17, NU 9
Caused Turnovers: Duke 12, NU 8
Fouls: Duke 18, NU 15
