Pirates' Magical Comeback Effort Falls Short at Duke, 14-12

Tuesday, March 26

Durham, NC

5 PM

East Carolina University

3-7

Duke

7-5

East Carolina

Duke

Pirates' Magical Comeback Effort Falls Short at Duke, 14-12

March 26, 2024 | Lacrosse

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – The East Carolina lacrosse team fell to the Duke Blue Devils, 14-12, on Tuesday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. The Pirates erased a nine-goal deficit to get within one several times in the fourth quarter but were unable to close it out in the loss.

Duke (7-5, 2-3 ACC) got it going 40 seconds into the game with a goal by Bella Goodwin and kept it going, rolling out to a 4-0 lead before the 10-minute mark to force a Pirates (3-7, 0-2 AAC) timeout. Each of the opening four goals for the Blue Devils was scored by a different player.

Duke ended up extending their lead to 7-0 in the first quarter at which point the Pirates made a shift in cage, bringing in Brynn Knight for the remainder of the game.

The Pirates got on the board not long after with a solo strike from Rachel Chessock with 3:16 remaining in the first quarter. Ellie Bromley got the team a second goal in the second quarter to cut the margin to just five.

From there, Duke was able to push the lead further, going up by as many as nine points before the halftime break. Erin Gulden (2) and Sarah Goodison did get the Pirates three more goals before the first half came to a close, taking the teams to the half, 12-5.

Bromley and Emily Stratton got the first two goals of the second half, both unassisted, to give the Pirates life and just a five-goal deficit with 9:15 remaining in the third quarter. The Stratton goal forced a keeper change for the Blue Devils with Courtney Kaufman taking over in goal.

Goodison got on the board again, unassisted, with under five minutes left in the third before Frances Kimel assisted a Gulden goal to cut it to three just a couple minutes later. The hat trick is the eighth of Gulden's career.

Chessock scored again with 26 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 12-10. At that point it was a 7-0 run for the Pirates going back to the first half. The visitors took the third quarter 5-0.

Goodison opened the scoring in the second half to cut the margin to one to open the fourth quarter and give herself her first career hat trick. Duke would answer, ending the ECU run at 8-0 with 9:28 remaining in the ballgame on an Olivia Carner goal.

The Pirates got within one goal a couple more times in the fourth quarter, but Duke was able to fend off the comeback effort, ultimately scoring a goal with 2:20 remaining in the ballgame to go up two and stopping the ensuing ECU offensive possession.

From there, Duke was able to run out the majority of the remaining clock to hold on for the win.

Duke was dominant on the draw in the game, taking the first 16 draw controls of the contest before Sarah Goodison finally got the Pirates' first with 1:49 remaining in the first half. The Blue Devils controlled the final margin on the draw, 24-5.

Still, the Pirates held Duke to just two second-half goals as they roared back into the ballgame.

Up Next
The Pirates will be back out on the road for a conference meeting with the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday at noon ET. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+ with Anthony Mazzini and Kelsey Conway on the call.