The No. 11 Northwestern lacrosse program made a valiant comeback attempt at No. 20 Duke Sunday afternoon, but a four-goal first-half deficit was just too much to overcome in suffering its first loss of the season, 9-8. Redshirt first-year goalkeeper Julie Krupnick made a season-high 11 saves, notching her first career double-digit effort, and limited the Blue Devils (3-0) to just three goals in the second half. Junior attack Selena Lasota scored three goals despite Duke employing a face guard on her the entire contest and senior Sheila Nesselbush scored a pair of goals. The Wildcats (3-1) outscored the Blue Devils in the second half, 6-3, but a 6-2 deficit at halftime prevented the 'Cats from staying unbeaten early in the season. The Wildcats grabbed an early lead just 70 seconds into the contest when senior Sheila Nesselbush beat her defender one-on-one from the left side of the fan, but Duke scored six of the next seven goals in the contest to take a 6-2 lead into halftime. Lasota scored her second goal of the contest at the 24:47 mark of the second half to cut the deficit to three, 6-3. It took the Wildcats just 59 seconds to find the back of the net again when Krupnick made a save and first-year Ally Palermo went end to end to draw a foul inside the eight-meter line. Palermo calmly fired home a free-position shot for her first career goal to cut the Duke lead to two, 6-4. Nesselbush cut the deficit to one with 19:11 left in the second half on a free-position of her own and the NU comeback was on. After a goal by Duke's Kyra Harney pushed the deficit back to two, the Wildcats scored back-to-back goals to tie the game. Lasota forced a turnover near the Blue Devils' cage and immediately scored her third goal of the game. Junior Claire Quinn then beat her defender right down the middle to score from just about six meters to tie the game with 12:01 left in regulation, 7-7. Unfortunately, Duke reclaimed the lead with 9:43 to play and pushed its lead to a pair of goals with 4:32 remaining, 9-7. The Wildcats weren't done and had plenty of opportunities to tie the game however. Senior Nicole Beardsley scored her first goal of the game with 2:30 remaining to once again cut the deficit to one, 9-8. Junior Leighton Yenor won the ensuing draw control and the 'Cats immediately took a timeout to set up a play. Lasota beat four defenders and took a jump shot from just outside the eight-meter line, but it was saved. NU had two more chances with just over a minute to play with Beardsley and sophomore Lindsey McKone putting shots on cage, but Duke goalkeeper Gabbe Cadoux made her ninth and tenth saves of the game to preserve the win. The Wildcats will be back in action next Sunday, February 25 when they return home to Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium to host No. 6 USC.