No. 21 Elon Falls 17-9 at No. 20 Duke in WLAX Season Opener

DURHAM, N.C. – Elon University women’s lacrosse opened its 2018 campaign Sunday, Feb. 11, with a 17-9 loss at 20th-ranked Duke at Cohan Turf Field.

FINAL STATS

THE RUNDOWN
After four scoreless minutes to open the day, Duke (1-0) settled in with a pair of goals in a span of 63 seconds to take a 2-0 lead five minutes in. Just 53 seconds after Duke’s second goal, Stephanie Asher got the Phoenix (0-1) rolling with a free position goal on its first shot of the day exactly six minutes into the contest.

The trend of the first half, though, was Duke quickly answering Elon goals, as it tallied a third just 20 seconds after Asher’s strike and added one more to make it 4-1, bringing an Elon timeout with 20:58 left in the first.

Following nearly four scoreless minutes out of the break, Abby Godfrey again cut the lead in half with another free position goal, but the Blue Devils answered 18 seconds later and started a 7-1 run to close the first half with an 11-3 lead.

While Duke scored the first two goals of the second half, Elon settled in for the final 26 minutes. Asher tallied four times down the stretch and Kelsey Dupere and Cami Lynch each struck for a goal as Elon outscored Duke 6-4 in the last 26 minutes of Sunday’s game.

HIGHLIGHTS
Asher led Elon with a six-point day thanks to her five goals and an assist. She also grabbed a team-high four draw controls and caused one turnover. Godfrey, Dupere and Melissa Birdsell all tallied once to provide the Phoenix offense for the day. Dupere also collected three draw controls and caused a turnover and Godfrey tied for the team lead with Alexis Zadjura in causing two turnovers apiece. Both Zadjura and Bridget Lamb had a team-best two ground balls.

Duke’s Maddie Crutchfield tallied four goals to lead the Blue Devils to go with an assist, four draw controls, two caused turnovers and a ground ball. Charlotte North and Olivia Jenner added three goals apiece while Jenner finished with nine draw controls. Anne Slusser managed a team-best three caused turnovers and goalie Gabbe Cadoux brought in six ground balls.

UP NEXT
Elon will play the second game of its three-game road trip to open the season with a trip to Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 17. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. in Charlottesville. Elon and Virginia met twice last season – the first two meetings in program history – with Elon winning at UVA during the regular season and the Cavaliers taking the NCAA Tournament game in May in Chapel Hill, N.C.