Panthers Impressive in Hard Fought, 15-14, Loss at No. 7 Duke

Thursday, March 10

Durham, NC

6:00 PM

Pitt

3-4 (0-3ACC)

Duke

7-1 (1-1ACC)

Pitt

Duke

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

Panthers Impressive in Hard Fought, 15-14, Loss at No. 7 Duke

3/10/2022 10:13:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

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DURHAM, N.C. – A resilient Pitt Lacrosse team gave No. 7 Duke all it could handle Thursday evening before falling to the Blue Devils, 15-14, at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. Sophomore Kate Elam paced the Panthers with four goals, while Kierin Ratliff-Kailbourne (2G, 1A) and Madisyn Kittell (1G, 2A) each added three points.

"I'm really proud of the girls," Head Coach Emily Boissonneault said. "For them to go in and play a full sixty minutes and compete with a top-10 program is really incredible. To see where we are at this point of the season with almost two months to play, I can't imagine what type of team we'll be in another month."

Pitt battled back from multi-goal deficits to tie the game four times on the night before a goal by Catriona Barry with 1:51 remaining proved to be the final tally of the night. The Panthers scored on their final 10 shots on goal in the game and were a perfect 6-of-6 on free position attempts in the game.

Graduate transfer goalie Paulina DiFatta had an outstanding effort in the cage finishing with nine saves, two caused turnovers and six ground balls. The Panther defense did an excellent job holding Duke's dynamic scoring tandem of Berry and Katie DeSimone in check for the bulk of the game. The tandem entered the contest with 60 combined goals on the season but were limited to just three goals by an aggressive and connected Pitt defense.

Duke jumped out to 3-0 lead in the opening quarter but Pitt stayed close with strong play from DiFatta who finished the opening stanza with three saves, one caused turnover and two ground balls. The Panthers offense was stymied by four saves from Duke goalie Sophia LeRose.

The Blue Devils added a goal by Eva Greco early in the second quarter before the Pitt offense settled in and began taking advantage of its opportunities.

Trailing 4-0 just over a minute into the second quarter, Pitt began dominating the run of play off the draw and scored five unanswered goals over the final 12:21 of action to take a 5-4 lead into halftime. Emily Coughlin got the offense going with a free position goal and freshman Dylana Williams followed suit with her fourth goal of the season just over a minute later to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Elam scored her first goal at the 7:47 mark in the second off a spin back to the middle that left her defender skidding to the turf before beating the goalie top right. Pitt won the ensuing draw control and knotted the score at 4-4 with a free position goal at 7:04 from Chloe Jones. Elam gave the Panthers their first lead of the night splitting a pair of defenders and ripping a shot over the goalie's right shoulder with 4:39 left in the half.

Duke came out of halftime to grab control by winning the first three draw controls and converting three goals in the opening three minutes, including a pair of free position goals from Olivia Carner. Maddie Jenner added a goal off another eight-meter attempt at the 10:41 mark to spot Duke to an 8-5 edge.

Jones ended the Duke run with her second goal of the night at the 9:19 mark and Elam completed her hat trick less than a minute later to make the score 8-7 midway through the third quarter. Elam remained lethal from free position with her fourth goal of the night to tie the game at 7:09 left in the third.

Duke regained the lead on a Katie Keller goal at the 5:58 mark, but Pitt again countered this time with Ratliff-Kailbourne finding Karina Latsko in front of the cage for a woman-up goal with 4:05 left in the quarter. Duke countered with consecutive goals, including one with just two seconds remaining in the quarter, to take an 11-9 lead into the final 15 minutes of play.

Barry, the nation's leading scorer, found the back of the net for the first time with 11:21 to spot the Blue Devils to a three goal advantage. Pitt again rallied back this time with Ratliff-Kailbourne and Kittell providing the scoring pop. Kittell, working behind the cage, fed Ratliff-Kailbourne for a pair of quick-stick goals at 10:38 and 9:32 before Kittell beat the Duke goalie through the five-hole off a free position attempt from the right hash at the 8:07 mark to tie the game at 12.

Duke reclaimed the lead on a woman-up goal by Landry at the 5:38 mark and added another goal just under a minute later to regain a two-goal lead [14-12] with 4:47 remaining.

Paige Petty answered back for the Panthers at the 4:03 mark to extend her consecutive games with a points streak to 70 and get the Panthers to within one. Carlie Leach added a goal from the top of the eight-meter mark with 3:03 left to even the contest.

Jenner, one of the top draw control players in the NCAA, won the ensuing possession and Barry converted a free position shot with under two minutes remaining the help Duke secure the win and move to 7-1 (1-1 ACC) on the season.

Freshman Jill Fenech did an excellent job on the draw throughout the game against Jenner with the Panthers coming away with a 17-16 advantage. Petty grabbed a team-high eight draws, while Payton Reed added five and Fenech finished with three.

Pitt is now 3-4 overall on the season with an 0-3 mark in ACC play. The Panthers have dropped a pair of one-goal decisions against conference foes and are now 0-2 against top 10 opponents.

The Panthers return to action Sunday, March 13 at Highmark Stadium against Binghamton. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. "We just want to be better than we were today," Boissonneault said. "I'm looking forward to another opportunity and another chance to win."