You can’t say the Hoyas didn’t go down swinging. After an afternoon of inconsistent offense, Georgetown missed five shots, including two free position tries and four attempts that were stopped by the Duke goalie, in the final 1:45 of their NCAA first-round game against Duke and came out on the short end of a 10-8 final score at the Multi-Sport Facility. Patty Piotrowicz, a senior midfielder playing her final collegiate game, scored a career-high four goals, but it wasn’t enough for the sixth-seeded Hoyas to advance. Georgeotwn’s leading scorer, sophomore attacker Ashby Kaestner, scored the game’s first goal 1:13 in, but was held scoreless for the next 57 minutes until just 1:48 remained in the contest. The Hoyas’ second-leading scorer, Molly Ford, was wrapped up all day and held without a single point. “I think overall for our season, it was similar,” Georgetown Head Coach Ricky Fried said. “Kids fought real hard, never gave up, played together the whole time, and at the end of the day, [Duke] executed a little better than we did.” After Kaestener’s goal with less than two minutes remaining in the game, Duke captured the ensuing draw control but Georgetown quickly forced a turnover. Kaestner gained possession downfield and was fouled. Then, her free position try was stuffed by Blue Devils goalie Kim Imbesi. The Hoyas maintained control, however, and after another Duke foul, Zan Morley had her free position try batted down by Imbesi. Off of the ricochet, Piotrowicz tried to fire a shot from about 8-meters past Imbesi but missed high. The Hoyas retained possession yet again, but Bunny O’Reilly’s shot was saved, and the Hoyas’ ensuing try from less than two meters soared over the goal. This time, Duke gained possession with half a minute left, and that was the ball game. “The biggest thing I saw was that they didn’t give up,” Fried said of those final two minutes. “They kept fighting, they believed that we could win because we’d been in that situation before where we had to come back. I think we probably had about seven or eight shots in the last two possessions, and they didn’t fall for us today.” Following the game, both sides were quick to praise Imbesi for her play over the final minutes. “It was a great game for her,” Duke Head Coach Kerstin Kimel said. “Kim has been very – especially in the middle of the season which is the hardest part of our season – Kim has been very inconsistent. She had a tough semester academically – she’s a pre-med major. I feel like school is out and she can relax a little bit and she’s really starting to come along now, which is great, because that’s the time you want your goalie.” Added Duke attacker Carolyn Davis, who scored four goals on the afternoon: “We made some great stops on `D,’ but Kim Imbesi was unreal in the last two minutes. She really saved our butts.” Duke’s defensive prowess was on display for all but the first two minutes of the game. After allowing two goals in as many minutes to begin the afternoon, the Blue Devils tightened up, stopped committing to double teams early in possessions, and held Georgetown to just six more goals, despite the Hoyas getting off 28 shots in the game. “I thought we played really great defense, which for our team at the start of the year, that definitely wasn’t a big strength for us,” Kimel said. “I felt like we just worked really hard and we developed a lot and our goalie had a great game and we forced Georgetown to take some not so great shots.” The only Georgetown player who was able to shine offensively was Piotrowicz. After scoring just nine goals during the whole regular season, she scored four times on eight shots (four on goal) Saturday. She also picked up five groundballs and tallied two draw controls. “Patty’s last game kind of simulated her whole senior year,” Fried said. “At big moments she stepped up huge. She’s a big part of why we were successful this year. . She didn’t want to leave without fighting and it says a lot about her character and her resilience.” For Piotrowicz, however, a strong game individually was of little consequence. “I’d rather play the worst game of my life and win than play the best game of my life and lose,” she said.