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Duke Women's Lacrosse News |
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May 17, 2008 |
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Four Straight Final Fours For Blue Devils As They Knock Off Maryland, 9-7 |
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Duke got a superb 13-save performance from Kim Imbesi and
pulled off its second straight upset in the NCAA Tournament, this time a 9-7 victory
in the quarterfinals against No. 3 Maryland at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
In doing so, the Blue Devils will now make their fourth consecutive trip to the
national semifinals.
Duke took a 3-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the contest, only to watch that
advantage evaporate as the Terps scored four goals in a span of 3:25 midway through
the first period. The Blue Devils were able to knot the score 4-4 going into
halftime in an offensively sparse second part of the first half.
The two well-matched team traded the first four goals of the second stanza to stay
tied at 6-6 with 17:09 remaining in the game. That's when Duke took over, notching
three straight goals that included junior attacker Megan Del Monte's second goal and
second assist of the game. Sophomore midfielder Lindsay Gilbride led off that run
with her second goal of the match. Leading 9-6 with 7:07 remaining, the Devil
defense clamped down on the high-powered Maryland attack, allowing just one goal the
rest of the way.
The story of the game was the defense, which held Maryland to the fewest goals it
has scored at home this season and its second-lowest goal total overall. Imbesi's 13
stops included six in a span of 4:20 late in the game when Duke was holding onto a
three-goal lead. Imbesi's goals against average in Duke's last five games is a mere
8.09 and her save percentage is a whopping .517.
"Nothing was going through my head other than that I knew that the longer I could
keep them from scoring, the more time would run off the clock and the less chance
they would be able to have to come back," said Imbesi.
Senior defender Aiyana Newton held Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Kelly Kasper to one
goal and midfielders Jess Adam, Emma Hamm and Allie Johnson kept ACC Player of the
Year and Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Dana Dobbie at bay, allowing her just one score.
Junior Christina Germinario also picked up four ground balls and only allowed one
goal to attacker Lauren Cohen to aid the defensive effort.
"A lot of my success has to do with what my defense has been able to do," said
Imbesi. "They are playing the best defense that we have played all season. They are
forcing our opponents to take bad shots with bad angles and I'm able to see the ball
and where it's going to go. It's all adrenaline."
Duke improves to 13-7 this season and holds a 6-7 record over ranked teams and a 4-5
mark over top-10 competition. The Blue Devils are 6-4 this year on the road.
Maryland finishes the season at 18-3, with two of its three losses coming to Duke.
The Terrapins were led by sophomore midfielder Caitlyn McFadden with three goals on
the day. Maryland had its streak of 17 straight home wins come to an end, a run that
dated back to April of 2006 and included both years of head coach Cathy Reese's
tenure.
Duke is now 8-9 all-time against Maryland, and has won six of the previous seven
contests between the two teams. The Blue Devils are now 12-10 in the NCAA tournament
and earned their second straight road victory in it after having gone 0-7 previously
in road and neutral contests. This is Duke's 11th consecutive NCAA tournament
appearance, which is tied for the third-longest run in Division I.
Duke will play No. 2 Penn in the national semifinals on Friday, May 23 at 8:30 p.m.,
at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md. The national championship game is on Sunday,
May 25 at 7:00 p.m., in the same location. If the Blue Devils make it they will face
the winner of No. 1 Northwestern - No. 5 Syracuse.
Source: Duke Sports Information Department
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