Pirates Fall to No. 23/24 Duke, 18-10

Wednesday, February 25

Durham, NC

5:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

2-2

Duke

3-2, 0-1

East Carolina

Duke

February 25, 2026 | Lacrosse

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – The East Carolina lacrosse team fell to the No. 23/24 Duke Blue Devils, 18-10, on Wednesday evening in Koskinen Stadium.

The Pirates struck first in the game but quickly found themselves trailing thanks to a trio of Duke goals. Still, the game stayed within striking distance for much of the first quarter, ECU making it a 5-4 ballgame on a Kayla Wilkes goal with 2:34 to play in the opening period.

Things started to come apart from there for ECU, conceding a 5-0 run, forcing a timeout and eventually a goalkeeper change with Maeve Meehan entering the game at the 8:46 mark of the second quarter. The Pirates trailed 10-4 at that point, three Blue Devils having already tallied multiple goals.

A Sarah Goodison player-up goal broke up the run slightly, but the Pirates went into halftime down 13-5, having given up their most goals in a game on the season.

Things took a turn in the third quarter with ECU scoring all three goals to get back within five at 13-8, capped by a Riley Matthiesen tally with 1:40 remaining in the period. Jaime Behar, who re-entered the game after halftime, made three saves in the third.

After trailing on the draw 15-4 at the half, the Pirates evened things out a bit in the third quarter, splitting the draw controls two apiece.

Despite the better success in the third, it wasn't to last as Duke got the better of the fourth quarter, 5-2. The Blue Devils finished the game with a 20-10 margin in draw controls, paced by Ellie White with 16, the most draw controls allowed by an individual in ECU program history.

Some things did go right for the Pirates. Defensively, the team forced 19 turnovers to 14 giveaways. 13 of those turnovers came off of caused turnovers.

Offensively, ECU was led by Kayla Wilkes' hattrick as Riley Matthiesen and Maya Koebke also tallied three points. Duke was paced by Avery Doran, Bella Goodwin and Quinn Whitaker with three goals apiece. Doran also recorded three assists.

The loss drops ECU to 0-27 all time against ranked opponents.

Up Next
The Pirates return home on Saturday at 12 p.m. to host the San Diego State Aztecs on Bill Clark Homes Field at Johnson Stadium.