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SPORTS

Lacrosse Drops Season Opener to #15 Duke

by | Feb 13, 2021

Sam Rippley goes in for one of her five goals against the ODU Monarchs. (2019 season)

 

DAVIDSON, N.C. — With their first game in 399 days, the Davidson Wildcats took on the No. 15 Duke Blue Devils inside Richardson Stadium this evening. The ‘Cats battled tough with the Blue Devils, and matched their scoring efforts with 6 goals apiece in the second half, but a strong first half from Duke proved to be the difference maker, as the Wildcats dropped the home opener, 16-11.

Duke rattled off four straight goals to begin the day, before Davidson’s Julianne Carey had an answer with a free position goal, eight minutes in. With the goal, Carey recorded the first point of her career and also collected three draw controls on the day. 

From there, the ‘Cats and Blue Devils would exchange goals for the next 10 minutes, until Duke scored back-to-back goals and pulled ahead, 8-4, with 7:22 left in the half. Despite the deficit though, Davidson responded right back as Jane DiGregorio and Sam Rippley went for two straight and cut the Blue Devils’ lead in half. With 1:25 to go in the half, the visitors tacked on two more scores and went into halftime with a 10-5 stronghold over the ‘Cats.

Davidson bounced back coming out of the break, as the Wildcats scored six times in the second half and were aided by seven second-half saves from netminder, Amanda Monahan. With 20 minutes to go in regulation, Grace Fahey strung together two consecutive goals, before Gianna New and Rippley added goals of their own to make it a 12-10 game. The two goal deficit was as close as the game would get however, as Davidson recorded one last goal from Emma Johnson in the final two minutes of play, before Duke pulled out the 16-11 victory. 

In addition to her two goals, Rippley dished two assists for a team-high four points, while New, DiGregorio and Cooke each added assists to the scoresheet. Monahan finished the day with 12 saves in her first career start for the Wildcats.

Davidson returns to the turf this Sunday afternoon for a 3 p.m. match up against Furman University. Against the Paladins, the Wildcats will celebrate their six graduating seniors. 

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