The Terrapin women’s lacrosse team’s members wanted this rematch against Duke, in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday – or so they thought.

The Terps were in a rut, and just like in the first round, their defensive captain Katie Pumphrey scored a goal to spark a rally.

But this time it was not enough, as Duke goalie Kim Imbesi made 10 of her 13 saves in the second half to stonewall the Terp offense and dash their national championship aspirations.

The Terps fell to the Blue Devils 9-7 and were eliminated from the NCAA tournament.

“We had the chances that we needed, but the goalie came up with some saves that I have not seen all season with some great toe saves and diving across the net and punching it out with her stick,” senior midfielder Dana Dobbie said. “If those shots had gone in I think it would have been a different game.”

The Terps were anxious for their rematch against the Blue Devils, but Duke had a cool calm about them. Their dramatic win in the final seconds earlier this season gave them the confidence they needed to come out on to the Terps’ home field and win, despite a 17-game home winning streak for the Terps.

The contrast between the two teams’ mentalities showed early on. The anxious Terps stumbled out of the gate. They tried to get into their fast-paced offense, but turnovers derailed the effort. Meanwhile, Duke used a methodical offensive strategy to milk the clock and break down the Terps’ defense. The strategy worked, as Duke built a 3-0 lead in the first nine minutes.

Seeing her team clamoring, Terp coach Cathy Reese called a timeout to reset and adjust after getting the jitters out. The strategy worked as Pumphrey scored a coast-to-coast goal, which had the same effect on the team as it did against Temple. It was a breath of life for the the Terps.

“Pumphrey is our captain on defense and that is a huge leadership thing, she took it into her hands and took care of it,” Kasper said.

Pumphrey’s goal sparked a 4-0 scoring run led by midfielder Caitlyn McFadden. The speedy sophomore drove through the teeth of the defense to score two of her three goals, while senior attacker Lauren Cohen added in a goal to give the Terps a 4-3 lead.

The Blue Devils broke a 14-minute scoring drought to tie the game at five before halftime.

Entering the locker rooms, the teams were deadlocked in nearly every facet of the game. Both teams had taken 10 shots with three saves. The Blue Devils had collected one more turnover and ground ball. But the Terps controlled the draw, as they had all season.

It was arguably the most physical game the Terps had played in all season, including two Terps breaking their sticks.

“It just goes to say what we have said all year about competition in the ACC: Any day it can go either way and it’s a hard-fought game from start to finish,” Reese said.

In the second half, the Blue Devils dominated play by attacking the Terps’ offensive tendencies and controlling the ball.

“We just felt that we tried our best to prepare for their tendencies,” Duke coach Kerstin Manning Kimel, a Terp alumna, said. “Those hard drives down the right side, if they couldn’t round the corner on our defense, get the ball behind and look for cutters on the inside. I think we did a good job of negating that. We worked a lot on the Dobbie and Lauren Cohen movement in the middle, and just trying to limit runs and easy stuff.”

The preparation paid off, but the Terps still had chances to comeback.

They took 19 shots in the half, but Imbesi only allowed three goals, holding the Terps to a .157 shooting percentage.

The Blue Devils also held the Terps’ top scorers in check for most of the game. The Terps top four scorers – senior attacker Casey Magor, Dobbie, Kasper and Cohen – combined for a pedestrian three goals. The only scoring threat that could get on track was McFadden, whose hat trick led the Terps.

“We were getting a lot of opportunities but she just came up with huge saves,” Kasper said. “We were getting shots, but we weren’t finishing them.”

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