CLEMSON – Five inaugural members of No. 11 Clemson’s lacrosse program, along with four other seniors, celebrated their collegiate careers, and head coach Allison Kwolek notched her 150th career win, with a dominant 17-5 win over No. 17 Duke at Conklin Field Saturday.

Though it was Senior Day, and Tiger veterans were honored properly in a tear-drenched ceremony postgame, Clemson’s ninth consecutive win came from standout performances from true freshmen attacker Alexa Spallina and midfielder Emma Penczek, as well as junior Kayla Macleod.

Spallina, now leading the ACC in assists, and ranking second in overall points, finished with three goals, her third time with at least a hat trick this season. The Mount Sinai, N.Y., native added one assist, bringing her points up to 94 on the year.

Penczek, a fellow freshman, added four points of her own with a goal and three assists. Attacker Regan Byrne added a hat trick, and Mikaela Mooney added two goals of her own.

Freshman goalie Tessa DeLuca recorded six saves and allowed only five goals to a Blue Devils’ offense that averages 14 per game.

With the win, Clemson (12-4, 6-3 ACC) improved to 4-2 all-time against Duke, (9-5, 5-4 ACC) and secured the largest win over the Blue Devils in program history. The Tigers out-paced their usual 7.4-goal margin of victory, and handed Duke its first loss by more than two goals since February. 

MacLeod, in her 50th career game, wasted no time showing off her experience. Just thirty seconds after first draw, the Roswell, Ga., native slashed in a close-range shot to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Spallina, fresh off of ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors, struck next with a goal of her own to extend the lead after just three minutes of play.

Goals from Mooney, Byrne, and Brooke Goldstein added onto a swelling Clemson lead in the first quarter, each with a goal to take a 5-0 lead after the first period. 

In the meantime, Clemson got seven shots in the quarter to Duke’s two. Both Blue Devils’ looks ended with saves for DeLuca.

Duke opened the second period with its first punch back, scoring two to Clemson’s one goal in the first five minutes of play. However, the Tigers shut down any momentum with a three-score run to regain a seven-goal lead.

Clemson entered halftime with a 10-3 lead, tied for the largest Duke deficit of the season. 

The Tigers striped four more shots into the cage in the third quarter, again outscoring Duke by a 4-1 margin. Freshman Aubrie Eisfeld joined the scoring party with a woman-up goal in the third, her 26th of the season. 

After the dominant start, Clemson cruised through a running-clock fourth quarter to its largest conference win since a 18-6 win at Virginia Tech last April. Junior Natalee Shurtleff also added her 32nd goal of the season to open the period, and Jasmine Stanton added her ninth of the season.

MacLeod finished with a team-high five points, while Spallina and Penczek each added four of their own. Sophomore Kira Balis secured six draw controls, Shurtleff added five, and the Tigers ended with 14 to Duke’s seven. Before Saturday, Duke led the ACC in draw controls. 

Clemson, ranked first in the conference in forced turnovers, forced 12 from the Blue Devils. Shurtleff and Mooney led the way in forced mistakes with two apiece.

Paris Masaracchia

Senior defender Paris Masaracchia, one of the inaugural members of Clemson’s program, caused a team-high three turnovers. The performance brought her to 90 caused turnovers in 73 starts.

MacLeod Milestones

With the two goals today, MacLeod is only one away from reaching 100 in her career. The junior, who suffered a knee injury that sidelined her for the postseason last year, is now up to 21 assists and 120 points in a three-year span.

Goalie Success

After freshman DeLuca left in the fourth quarter, senior Ava DeLyra headed to the cage, and recorded two saves on perfect percentage in the last few minutes of play, helping the Tigers retain their double-digit lead.

Up Next

Now, the Tigers will leave the familiarity of Conklin Field and head to Tallahassee to take on Florida State (4-11, 0-9 ACC)at the Seminole Lacrosse Complex. First draw is set for 2 p.m. on Thursday in Clemson’s last regular season game of the year.

—photo courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications