EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Erin Fitzgerald scored four goals and defending national champion Northwestern rebounded from a slow start to defeat Duke 12-7 on Saturday night to advance to the NCAA women’s lacrosse Final Four for the eighth straight season.
The second-seeded Wildcats (19-2) pulled away in the second half — outscoring the Blue Devils 6-3 — and will face No. 3 Maryland in the semifinals on Friday in Stony Brook, N.Y.
Northwestern’s Shannon Smith scored three times, giving her 252 career goals to set a team record. Amanda Macaluso, Taylor Thornton, Alyssa Leonard, Lacey Vigmostad and Garbiella Flibotte also connected for Northwestern, which has won six of the last seven NCAA titles, missing only in 2010.
Taylor Trimble and Maddy Morrissey both scored twice for Duke (12-7), which also got goals from Makenzie Hommel, Amanda Jones and Kerrin Mauer.
