DURHAM, N.C. --- Duke rallied from two multiple-goal deficits and got a game-winner from junior midfielder Jess Adam with three seconds remaining to pull out a 14-13 victory over Maryland on Saturday afternoon in Koskinen Stadium. Junior midfielder Carolyn Davis led the Blue Devils with six goals and one assist on the day. The match can be seen on-demand on www.ACCSelect.com.

The game started off looking eerily similar to the 19-18 defeat that the Blue Devils suffered last year to the Terps in College Park, Md. Maryland got off to a 6-3 lead just 12:02 into this contest, just as they had taken an 8-5 lead last year in the first half.

After calling its first timeout, Duke rattled off three straight goals to tie the game and then battled with Maryland the rest of the period to go into halftime down by one, 9-8. The Blue Devils trailed 8-7 at half in the 2007 meeting of the rivals.

“We basically called a timeout and made a big defensive adjustment,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel on the first half comeback. “Our game plan was to play them behind the cage and take away their feed options and it wasn't working so our new plan was to go a little bit more defensive and add another defender in and play our man-to-man defense.”

The second half would prove to be a different story than last year. The Blue Devils and Terrapins traded the first six goals of the second stanza, with Maryland holding a one-goal advantage, 12-11, with 12:57 remaining. The Duke defense really locked down on the Terps' high-octane attack in the second half, limiting them to just four goals on 10 shots. Junior goalkeeper Kim Imbesi stepped up her game as well, making four second-half saves to finish with five for the match.

The final goal Maryland would get came with 12:23 left in the contest. At that point Duke was down 13-11. With just under two minutes remaining, Duke called a timeout down by one score.

Coming out of the timeout, Adam drove to the goal from the left wing, drawing a second defender over just enough to find Davis at the top of the fan. Davis pushed towards the goal, faked out her defender and tied the game with a high shot into the back of the net with 1:29 left.

Maryland won the ensuing draw but turned the ball over with 25 seconds remaining. Duke cleared the ball and freshman Sarah Bullard was fouled with nine seconds on the clock. Bullard took a free position shot that was blocked but picked up behind the cage by Adam, who came around the net and finished quickly with just three seconds remaining to seal the win for the Blue Devils.

“We had the timeout and came back out and got into our play and worked it a little bit and Bullard got the eight meter shot,” said Adam. “Obviously we're going to send two people behind when she shoots it. I got the ball with less than 10 seconds left, which is when the coaches tell us to drive the ball to at least try to come up with a foul. At that point it was just adrenaline and you rely on your instincts.”

“We drew out a play in the timeout and it didn't work even though we ran it well,” said Kimel. “We wanted the ball in Jess Adam's stick and she was able to create an opportunity for Carolyn. On the game-winner we went straight to goal and got a shot off and then we were in the same position and had the same take for Jess that we called for in the timeout.”

The Devil defense really found their game in the second half, and caused nine turnovers overall. Imbesi caused three turnovers herself and picked up three ground balls. Senior Aiyana Newton, who was charged with marking Tewaaraton Trophy watch list nominee Kelly Kasper, caused two turnovers and scooped up three ground balls. Kasper scored three goals in the first half but was shutout entirely in the second.

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2008-03-01