SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The 14th-ranked Fighting Irish scored four goals in the final 7:28 of regulation, but the Duke Blue Devils held on to win, 15-12, at the Arlotta Family Lacrosse Stadium on Saturday (242).
Madison Mote led the way for the Irish offense, scoring a career-high five goals to go with two assists. Kasey Choma notched her fourth-straight hat trick and sixth of the season, finishing with four points for the Irish offense.
Goalie Bridget Deehan collected nine saves in net for the sixth time this season. The graduate student picked up four of her stops in the second quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Blue Devils struck first with a Catriona Barry goal at 11:30 in the first period. The Irish answered three minutes later thanks to a point-blank tally from Kelly Denes off a feed from Madison Ahern at 8:11. Notre Dame successfully managed a Duke two-minute advantage after Grace Weigand picked up a yellow card.
The Blue Devils notched two more scores in the first, but Irish goalie Bridget Deehan kept the margin close thanks to three saves in the opening frame. Notre Dame finished the opening 15 minutes with three shots on goal and were a perfect three-for-three on clears.
The second period opened with a yellow card called on Jane McAvoy for slashing at 14:45. The Blue Devils capitalized with a Maddie Jenner goal to extend their lead to three. Duke added another just over four minutes into the period, but Ahern responded for the Irish with a tally of her own off a free position for her first score of the afternoon.
Kasey Choma followed up Ahern on Notre Dame’s next possession, slipping her unassisted goal inside the left post, cutting the Blue Devil lead to just two. Duke added the next two goals of the contest, but the Irish closed the half on a 2-0 run thanks to scores from Madison Mote and Kasey Choma.
Katie DeSimone gave Duke the first tally of the third period at 11:10, But the Irish cashed in the next two – Mary Kelly Doherty assisted Jackie Wolak who netted her 18th goal of the season followed up by Mote’s second of the afternoon off a feed from Wolak to slash the Duke advantage to 9-8.
Duke scored the next four, but Mote’s hot streak continued as she scored the next two for the Irish and assisted on a Kasey Choma goal with 5:51 to play in regulation. Mote scored or assisted on all but one Irish goal in the second half.
Down three with five minutes to play, Mote quickly secured the draw following a Choma goal and connected with Ahern who curled from around the net and sent home a shot to bring Notre Dame within two with just over four minutes to play.
The Irish regained control with a chance to make it a one-score game, but Duke’s Sophia LeRose made a near-net stop and cleared, leading to the game’s final score with just 16 seconds remaining in the fourth.
UP NEXT
The Irish will travel to Chapel Hill, for an 11 a.m. matinee against the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. The matchup will be streamed live on ACCNX, and live stats will be available at UND.com.