Pirates Fall At No. 7 Duke 19-9

Monday, February 28

Durham, NC

5 PM

East Carolina University

4-1

Duke

6-0

East Carolina

Duke

February 28, 2022 | Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – The draw circle was the difference as the East Carolina lacrosse team could not keep up with No. 7 Duke, falling 19-9 on Monday night.

ECU drops to 4-1 on the season while Duke climbs to 6-0.

It was East Carolina who struck first. Brynn Knight made a save on Duke's opening possession and the Pirates were able to advance the ball. Megan Tryniski operated behind the Blue Devil net and was able to dodge in front and score.

Unfortunately, the discrepancy in possession began to show in the first quarter. Duke had a 7-3 edge in the draw circle and that led to a 6-0 Blue Devil run after Tryniski's opening tally. The Pirates did gain some momentum closing the quarter, with Payton Barr scoring a free-position goal with 1:5 remaining and then Tryniski added a second goal to make it 6-3 after one quarter.

Duke continued to dominate possession in the second frame and that helped open the floodgates. The Blue Devils held a 6-1 edge in the draw circle in the second quarter and outshot the Pirates 8-0. While Knight made a pair of saves in the second, Duke was able to outscore ECU 6-0 in the second to take a 12-3 lead into halftime.

The Duke run continued in the third quarter, as Duke got the first three goals of the second half. East Carolina got one back when Frances Kimel snuck a free-position shot just inside the post. It was the third straight year that Kimel has scored against Duke, which is coached by her mother, Kerstin Kimel. Duke added one more goal in the third to take a 16-4 lead into the fourth.

Leah Bestany opened the fourth quarter with a bang, rocketing a free-position shot into the top corner of the goal and then adding a second to the opposite top corner after a CeCe Bartley caused turnover put the Pirates back on offense.

Duke answered with back-to-back goals of its own, but the Pirates took advantage of a Blue Devil green card as Barr grabbed her second goal of the day. Bestany continued the run for ECU, grabbing another pair of goals from the eight-meter arc, giving her a career-best four goals. The Blue Devils added one final goal to round out the scoring.

Duke finished with a 31-10 edge in shots and a 22-9 lead in draw controls. The Blue Devils also lead 14-11 in ground balls, while both teams had seven caused turnovers.

Bestany led the Pirates with four goals while Tryniski and Barr each had a pair of goals. Knight played the first 30 minutes in the cage, making six saves while Bandorick had six saves of her own over the final 30 minutes. Nicole LeGar led the Pirates with four draw controls while Caroline Meininger forced a pair of Duke turnovers.

The Pirates will have time to regroup before another trip to a ranked foe. ECU will travel to No. 22 Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon.