#7 Duke holds off rally by Boston College lacrosse, downs Eagles 16-15

#7 Duke women’s lacrosse spoiled Charlotte North’s return to her former home field, picking up a 16-15 upset win over #2 Boston College on Saturday.

The Eagles trailed by as many as 6 and never led in the game, but rallied back to tie it with under 2 minutes to play, before Duke’s Maddie Jenner took over in the final minutes of the game.

Jenner won control off the ensuing draw after BC tied it, then was on the receiving end of an alley-oop play that she slammed past Rachel Hall to give Duke their winning margin. The Duke defense held BC without a shot on their last-gasp possession and hung on for the win.

Jenner had 12 draw controls on the day, contributing to Duke’s 20-14 edge in that crucial statistic on the day.

BC moved the ball well and generated plenty of offensive opportunities, outshooting Duke 28-22 including a 24-19 edge in shots on goal, but 9 saves by Duke goaltending plus the draw control edge was enough to help the Blue Devils eke out the huge win.

Sophia Lerose made 8 stops, including some point-blank, highlight reel saves, before having to be lifted due to injury in favor of freshman Kennedy Everson. BC had a little more success from there, scoring on 4 of 5 shots against Everson, but she came up big when she had to and helped Duke hang on.

Duke did a nice job of reining in Charlotte North, keeping her off the board in the first half and limiting her to two goals total. BC’s best offense came on great passing from behind the net, with Belle Smith in particular starring with 6 assists. Kayla Martello led BC with 4 goals, including the late game-tying tally that looked like it might extend the game before Duke’s late winner.

BC now falls to 13-2 and out of the running for the #1 seed in the ACC regular season standings. They will wrap up their regular season slate on Friday night with a now even more crucial home tilt against Syracuse at Alumni Stadium. The game starts at 6 pm on ESPNU, and admission is free at Alumni.