NCAA Rewind: Peaks and Valleys for Duke

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2025 — look out for our NCAA Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings later this summer — our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking a last look at the 2024 college lacrosse season.

To do that, we’re taking a journey through 30 of the top teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse to see what went right, what went wrong and how we should feel about the season.

DUKE

USA Lacrosse preseason/final ranking: also considered/also considered
2024 record: 10-9 (4-5 ACC)

What went right: Duke was inconsistent in 2024. That isn’t controversial to say. But give the Blue Devils credit for showing up to earn season-defining wins over Harvard (15-13 on March 12) and Virginia (15-10 on March 30). Those two wins alone were enough to get Duke into the NCAA tournament field, with the head-to-head over Harvard potentially giving the Blue Devils the edge over the Crimson. (Even though Navy’s head-to-head win over Duke didn’t get the Mids into the tournament field, but that’s another conversation for another day.)

Offense was once again Duke’s strength, backed by 63 goals and 22 assists from Katie DeSimone. Nine players had double-digit goals and 10 had double-digit points, showcasing the depth of Kerstin Kimel’s offensive group.

What went wrong: There were perhaps two limiting factors that held Duke back in 2024 — goalie play and the draw unit. Let’s start with the latter. It was going to be nearly impossible to make up for the graduation of Maddie Jenner, one of the all-time great players in the circle. Kerry Nease did her best, winning 88 draws, but Duke ranked 48th nationally in draw winning percentage (51.7 percent).

And now for the former. Save percentages don’t mean everything when you play in the ACC, especially with so much offense and many of the nation’s top talents running around every game. But Duke’s goalie group combined to save 38.1 percent of shots, and that’s a tough clip for even a great offense to overcome.

Season highlight: Duke’s 15-10 win over Virginia was one of the more surprising results of the season, with the Cavaliers establishing themselves as full-fledged national contenders by that point. The Blue Devils dominated the middle two quarters, scoring nine of 13 goals in those 30 minutes, and cruised even as Virginia scored three in a row in the fourth quarter.

It was a sign of the team Duke could have had if everything came together at the right time. Caroline DeBellis and DeSimone combined for 10 goals. Kennedy Everson made 11 saves. Duke won the draw battle 15-11, and the defense held a talented Virginia offense to just 29 shots.

Verdict: The Blue Devils made it into the NCAA tournament, which means Duke’s season ended later than most. That’s a good thing. But 2024 will always be mired by some element of inconsistency.

Those wins over Harvard and Virginia were excellent. But on the other end of the spectrum, a loss to Clemson and the lopsided nature in which other games were lost will stick out.