Duke Dispatches Loyola, 14-8, in NCAA First Round

Friday, May 13

Chapel Hill, N.C.

5:00 PM

Duke University

Loyola (First Round)

Duke Dispatches Loyola, 14-8, in NCAA First Round

5/13/2016 8:02:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

WLAX vs. Loyola: Highlights WLAX vs. Loyola: Postgame Press Conference WLAX vs. Loyola: Harney Top Shelf Goal Photo Gallery Season Statistics Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Led by hat tricks from sophomore Kyra Harney and seniors Maddy Acton and Kelci Smesko, the 12th-ranked Duke women's lacrosse team downed Loyola, 14-8, Friday in NCAA first round action at North Carolina's Fetzer Field. The Blue Devils led by four at halftime and dominated possession down the stretch to set up a second-round meeting with the third-seeded Tar Heels Sunday at 1 p.m.

Freshman Olivia Jenner corralled 10 draw controls to help Duke (11-8) take the category by an 18-6 margin. The Blue Devil attack also placed 23 of its 26 looks on cage, while senior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea anchored a solid defensive performance with six saves.

“I'm really proud of our group,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “We've had a good 14-day break since we've played last and it showed a little bit in the first half, but I think our kids did a really good job of sticking to the game plan. Coming out of halftime, we needed a minute to re-emphasize some of the key points of our game plan, and I thought we did an awesome job of coming out in the second half and executing.”

Despite Duke taking the first two draws of the contest, Cami Whiteford paced the Greyhounds to a 2-0 start. Following a stop by senior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea, the Blue Devils rattled off five unanswered tallies to swing momentum in their direction. Harney and Smesko both found the back of the net twice during the run, while Jenner chipped in three wins at the draw.

Loyola snapped its 12-minute drought with a marker by Maddy Blakeman, narrowing the score to 5-3 at the 10:54 mark. Duke continued to control the draw, though, and saw Acton record her second tally on an Ella Bonafede assist. Both defenses held strong through the remainder of the period, keeping the score at 6-3 in the Blue Devils' favor at the intermission.

Smesko completed a hat trick a few minutes into the second half and sophomore midfielder Stuart Humphrey added a goal before the Greyhounds answered with two scores of their own. Jenner got on the board at the 19:11 mark and claimed the ensuing draw, setting up Harney to complete her 10th hat trick of the season. That pushed Duke's lead back to four at 10-6.

“We put a lot of time into ourselves this week to get better and learn Loyola,” Kimel said. “We know their defense is good and they were constantly going to be switching in and out of different defenses. Our kids did a really good job of adjusting and changing in and out of the offenses that we knew could give us good looks.”

Humphrey, Acton and senior Emma Lazaroff kept the run going for the Blue Devils until Sabrina Tabasso chimed in for Loyola. The Greyhounds would break through one more time in the final minute of regulation, but it was the Blue Devils who advanced to Sunday's second round.

“Being in postseason, making those adjustments is so key,” Smesko said. “We came out today knowing that we needed to win to continue playing together for the next day. With that being the focus, I think we all played for each other, especially offensively … We were all very composed even though we have every age group playing out there.”

For the contest, Duke outshot Loyola by a 26-16 margin and went 10-of-11 on clearing attempts. The Greyhounds won the ground ball battle, 19-15, behind five from Maddy Lesher. Senior defender Claire Scarrone picked up four ground balls for the Blue Devils in the win.

Smesko rounded out the contest with a game-high six points on three goals and three assists while Harney recorded four tallies and one assist.

Loyola goalkeeper Molly Wolf totaled nine saves, while the Greyhound attack was led by Tabaasso, Whiteford and Blakeman, who all contributed two goals each.

Duke and North Carolina will square off for the third time this season Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN3.

--- NOTES ---

- With 10 draw controls, freshman Olivia Jenner became only the 14th player in program history to surpass 100 draws for her career. She broke the Blue Devils' single season draw controls record against North Carolina April 29.

- The 14-goal output was the highest by the Blue Devils since scoring 16 against Louisville in a March 12 win over the Cardinals.

- With the win, the Duke program improved to 24-18 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and 14-3 in first round contests.

#GoDuke