May 19, 2007

Box Score

DURHAM, NC - Second-seeded Duke used a strong first half to defeat seventh-seeded Johns Hopkins 12-7 in the quarterfinals of the 2007 NCAA Championship Saturday. The Blue Jays finished the season with a 12-8 record, having tied the school record for wins in a season.

The Blue Devils struck first when Allie Johnson scored on a shot to the far post just 1:38 in. Junior middie Lauren Schwarzmann (Sykesville, MD/Century) evened the score at 1-1 at 8:53, dodging from the top of the arc and scoring on a low shot. Durham then scored three straight, moving out to a 4-1 lead with 12:02 to play. The Blue Jays called a timeout and scored two coming out of the break to move within one.

Junior middie Kirby Houck (Baltimore, MD/Garrison Forest) threaded a pass to junior Kadie Stamper (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) in the middle of the arc. Stamper caught the pass, turned and scored on a quick shot. Houck then scored on a hard shot to the far post to make it a 4-3 game with 5:54 to play in the half.

Duke then scored two quick goals on free position shots from Kristen Waagbo and Caroline Cryer to extend the lead back to three. The Devils tacked on two more in the closing minute of the half to head into the break with an 8-3 lead. Coming out of the half, Duke scored twice in the first 59 seconds to take a 10-3 lead.

Hopkins once again regrouped, scoring four of the next six goals, making it a 12-7 game. Fifth-year senior Sarah Walsh (Port Washington, NY/P.D. Schreiber) found freshman Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's) wide open in front of the Devils' cage for a quick score at 4:03. Four minutes later, Danielle Kachulis scored for Duke on a free position shot. Senior attacker Mary Key (Stevensville, MD/St. Mary's) answered back with her 66th when she forced a turnover on a Duke clear attempt. Key got the ball on the restart and passed out to senior Steph Janice (Medford, NJ/Shawnee). Janice gave the ball right back to Key, who faked a shot to the left and then scored over the right shoulder of Duke goalie Kim Imbesi.

Janice then scored on a free position shot and the Blue Jays were trailing 11-6 with 14:31 to play. Waagbo closed out the scoring for Duke when she picked up a loose ball after a save by Hopkins goalie Lizzie O'Ferrall (Baltimore, MD/Mount DeSales) and shot just inside the far post. The final goal came from Key with 8:13 to play. After a Blue Jays clear, Key beat her defender to the goal and scored to make it 12-7. Duke would gain possession off the draw and maintained it for the majority of the final eight minutes of the game.

The senior class of Key, Walsh, Janice, Alex Nolan (Baltimore, MD/Roland Park), Emma Wallace (Lincoln, VA/St. Andrew's) and Cherie Michaud (Monkton, MD/Maryvale) finish their careers with a 47-23, the most wins by a class in school Division I history. Key finished with two goals to lead the Blue Jays. Houck and Janice also finished with two points on the day.

Key also finishes her career with 383 points on 232 goals and 149 assists. She ranks third in NCAA history in career points and second in assists. In Hopkins history, Walsh ranks eighth all-time in assists (62), sixth in D-I history in goals (97), third in assists and fifth in points (159). Janice ranks 12th in school DI history in goals (47), 13th in assists (18) and 13th in points (65).