ELON – The Elon women's lacrosse team (4-5) tested No. 16 Duke (8-4) on Monday night at Rudd Field, coming from five goals down to tie the game early in the third quarter before the Blue Devils pulled away late for a 17-13 victory.

Duke took an 8-3 lead just over 20 minutes into the contest before Elon methodically worked its way back into the contest. The Phoenix outscored the Blue Devils in the third quarter and tied the contest at 11-11 on an Anna Hackett goal. Hackett tied the game again early in the fourth before the Blue Devils finished the game on a 5-1 scoring run.

Hackett was one of three Phoenix to net hat tricks, along with Mackenzie Coleman and Ana Lee Vandiver. Hackett finished with a team-best four points, with Gwen Eilender dishing out a career-high three assists to join Coleman and Vandiver with three points.

In goal, Caitlin Walsh made eight saves to surpass 400 stops in her Elon career. She became the second Elon goalkeeper to reach 400 career saves.

How It Happened

• Duke opened the game on a 3-1 scoring run in the opening six minutes, with Coleman scoring Elon's first of the night. The Phoenix answered with goals from Vandiver and Hackett to tie the score at 3-3 late in the first quarter.
• The Blue Devils answered with a 5-0 run to take an 8-3 lead in the second. Arianna Kouchalakos scored her first of the season to stop the Duke run, but the Blue Devils restored their five-goal margin shortly after. Elon scored the final two goals of the first half, with Lillian Austin and Vandiver converting to cut Duke's halftime lead to three, 9-6.
• Coleman opened the third-quarter scoring with a goal from Eilender. Duke scored two of the next three goals before a 3-0 Phoenix run tied the game at 11-11. Maddie Engelkraut ignited the spurt with a free position tally, which was followed by another Coleman marker set up by Eilender. Hackett then tied the score with 3:28 left in the frame on an unassisted goal. The Blue Devils answered with a goal to take a 12-11 advantage into the final quarter.
• Hackett again tied the game at 12-12 to open the fourth-quarter scoring, connecting off a feed from Engelkraut. Duke scored the next four goals over the next eight-plus minutes to retake control of the contest. Austin netted her second goal of the night in the closing minutes to bring the Phoenix back within three, but Duke tacked on an insurance goal in the last minute of the game to ice the victory.

Notable Numbers

• For the second time this season and first since Feb. 14 against Old Dominion, three Elon players netted a hat trick, with Coleman (3), Hackett (3) and Vandiver (3) all sharing the team lead in goals.
• Coleman has hat tricks in consecutive games after also netting three goals against Monmouth on March 20. The junior is the fifth Phoenix scorer to reach double-digit goals this season, with all 10 of her tallies coming in the last five games.
• Hackett's hat trick was her team-best fifth of the season but first since March 5 against High Point. The redshirt junior had been held to just one goal over the previous three games. She added an assist to pace the Phoenix with four points, matching her season high from the season opener at Queens.
• Vandiver's three goals secured her fourth hat trick of the campaign. She attempted a team-high seven shots as she turned in her second straight three-point game.
• Austin's two goals extended her scoring streak to eight games, as the sophomore has netted at least one goal in all eight of her appearances on the season.
• Engelkraut's goal was her fourth of the season, with all four coming on free position shots. She leads the Phoenix in free position goals.
• Kouchalakos became the 12th different Phoenix to score a goal this season with her second career tally. She also added a pair of draw controls.
• Eilender set career highs in both points (3) and assists (3). She also caused a pair of turnovers and scooped two ground balls.
• Jessie Penner also had two caused turnovers to match Eilender for the most on the Phoenix. The senior is up to 12 forced turnovers this season, with eight coming in the last four outings.
• Duke controlled the draw circle, finishing with a 19-13 advantage. MJ Santa Barbara led the Phoenix with six draw controls.
• Elon kept up with the Blue Devils in shot attempts, with Duke only taking three more shots (29-26) than the Phoenix.
• The Phoenix only turned the ball over 11 times compared to Duke's 14 giveaways.
• Elon collected more ground balls than Duke, finishing with a 16-14 advantage.
• Walsh made eight stops in goal to surpass 400 stops in her Elon career. The senior has made eight or more saves in all three of Elon's games against ACC opponents this season.
• This was Elon's second time playing an ACC opponent within a four-goal margin this season. The Phoenix also lost by four (17-13) at Virginia Tech on Feb. 27.

 
Up Next
Elon returns to conference play on Saturday with a CAA road game at Drexel. The contest will begin at noon.

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