DURHAM, N.C. -- No. 6 Duke (14-3) came out strong in the second half and then held off Dartmouth (9-7) to secure an 18-14 victory in the last game of the regular season at Koskinen Stadium on Sunday. On a windy senior day, it was a couple of underclasswomen who would carry the Blue Devils: junior attacker Caroline Cryer with six goals and sophomore midfielder Carolyn Davis with four goals and one assist.

The game started out looking to be a defensive struggle as only nine goals were score in the first 24:55 of the game. Dartmouth held a 5-4 lead at that point on the strength of two goals by senior midfielder Jen Pittman. Pittman would not score for the remainder of the contest.

Duke and Dartmouth then began the offensive display that would characterize the rest of the game. Six goals were scored in the final 5:05 of the half and the Big Green took a 9-8 lead into the locker room. The first half saw six ties and four lead changes as the Blue Devils gave up the lead on five occasions. Cryer, Davis and senior attacker Leigh Jester each had two goals before halftime as did Pittman, senior attacker Sarah Szefi and junior attacker Kristen Barry for the Big Green.

The Blue Devils stormed out of the gate in the second half, scoring the period's first five goals of which Cryer and senior midfielder Rachel Sanford each had two. With 21:22 left in the match, Duke held a 12-8 lead that they would refuse to relinquish. The Blue Devils would lead by at least two for the remainder of the game as the Devil defense held the Big Green to six second half goals.

Only five players were able to score for Dartmouth, and star senior midfielder Whitney Douthett was held scoreless although she did help her team with three assists. Duke themselves had six players find the back of the net. In addition to Cryer and Davis' efforts, Jester added three goals and two assists and Sanford put in two goals and three assists.

Duke dominated the draw on the day, 21-11. Cryer and Sanford accounted for 11 of the Blue Devils' draw controls alone. Duke also out-shot Dartmouth, 38-26, and put 33 of their shots on goal. Freshman goalkeeper Julie Wadland did make 15 saves for the Big Green despite the loss.

The Blue Devils bounced back from a loss for the third time this season, refusing to take on a losing streak. The last time Duke had a losing streak was in March of 2005 when they lost two straight. They moved to 8-5 all-time against Dartmouth and have now won the last four meetings between them.

Duke's seven seniors were honored in a ceremony at the end of the game. That group included defender Meghan Ferguson, attacker Meeghan Ford, Jester, midfielder Michelle Menser, Sanford, attacker Kristen Waagbo and attacker Kim Wathey.

Cryer leads the ACC and is ninth in the NCAA in goals per game with 3.47. Her 59 goals this season already place her second all-time at Duke for goals in a season. Cryer's 4.23 points per game are second in the ACC and her 3.18 draw controls per game are fourth in the ACC. She was named to the All-ACC team for the first time in her career this season and is a Tewaaraton Trophy semifinalist.

The 16-team NCAA tournament selection show is Monday at 8:00 p.m. on www.ncaasports.com. Duke will likely be one of the top eight seeds and host a first round game that would begin at 2:00 p.m. on Sun., May 13, against an opponent to be determined. The quarterfinals take place on Sat., May 19, with the higher seeds hosting and the Final Four is Fri., May 25 through Sun., May 27, at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa.

2007-05-06