The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team learned the hard way that all good things must come to an end. The No. 6 Duke Blue Devils taught No. 8 the Hoyas that lesson Saturday, snapping Georgetown’s four-game undefeated season with a 10-7 victory.

“We learn a lot from victories,” Georgetown Head Coach Ricky Fried said. “Now we need to learn a little from defeat, and then let it go and move on.”

Time of possession distinguished teacher from student at the outset, with Duke capitalizing on numerous opportunities for an early scoring frenzy. The Hoyas took only a handful of shots early in the game but were unable to capitalize until late in the first half.

Devil senior midfielder Katie Laschinger opened scoring less than three minutes in, taking a pass from junior attack Katie Chrest. Three minutes later, sophomore mid Leigh Jester found the back of the net and then put in a free-position shot just a couple of minutes later to give Duke a 3-0 lead. Laschinger tallied on another free-position shot at the 15-minute mark, and Chrest made it a five-goal lead with 12 minutes left in the first half.

“We were reactive rather than proactive, and that hurt us a lot,” Fried said. “They took advantage of their opportunities. They had some quality shots, and we didn’t take the best shots. If we had finished a couple of those early, it’s a different ball game.”

Georgetown finally did finish a shot to get on the board with only five minutes left. Sophomore attack Coco Stanwick took a pass on a free position from senior attack Catherine Elbe for her first of four goals on the afternoon. Her second came just 44 seconds later on an assist from sophomore defender Lauren Cipro.

Each team registered one more before the break, Duke’s sophomore attack Kristen Waagbo being answered by Georgetown senior attack Hollis Pica. The Devils took a 6-3 lead into the half.

“I don’t think we played up to our potential in the first half,” Elbe said. “We need to work on playing right from the start rather than waiting till the second half or even five minutes.”

The second half threatened to be a repeat of the first half, with Duke making the lead four goals just 32 seconds in when sophomore mid Michelle Menser slipped one past Georgetown senior goalie Sarah Robinson. The teams held each other scoreless for more than eight minutes until Georgetown went on a run.

Elbe scored her only two goals on the afternoon, taking an assist from Stanwick and then capitalizing on a free-position shot five minutes later. Exactly three minutes after Elbe made it a 7-5 game, Stanwick put back her third and then followed up to knot the score at seven with her fourth goal on the day.

“Once we got our feet under us, we showed a lot of character coming back, tying the game up,” Fried said.

Elbe tried to continue the scoring rip for the Hoyas, but her goal was called off on a controversial crease violation whistle.

“I got pushed,” she said. “There was a flag, I was pushed and I fell into the crease.”

Duke took advantage of the call when Laschinger registered her third on the day, once again giving the Blue Devils a lead.

“The pivotal goal of the game was Katie Laschinger’s,” Duke Head Coach Kerstin Kimel said. “That was the turning point. That was a huge goal for her.”

The Devils scored again with 3:27 remaining. Georgetown’s Robinson stepped out of the net to cut off Duke’s options, but the potent Chrest found a way to put the ball in the open goal. Just 32 ticks later, Chrest scored again, putting the game out of reach for the Hoyas.

“We never quite took control of the game the way we’re capable of, though,” Fried said. “Even when it was tied, we seemed a little tentative, a little reactive, instead of controlling the possession and taking a good opportunity.”

Coming off back-to-back losses, the No. 4 Blue Devils needed a win to set their season back on track.

“This is our third game in seven days against a top opponent. Our backs were up against the wall,” Kimel said. “Even though it got a little ugly in the second half with a flurry of turnovers, I was really proud of how we gutted it out at the end. We needed to win this game, and it wasn’t pretty at times, but we did it.”

The Hoyas have a week off before starting a three-game road trip. They take on Rutgers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and then face No. 1 Princeton on Wednesday, March 30. They head to North Carolina before returning home to take on No. 9 Maryland on April 6. Last season, the Hoyas faced this same foursome, splitting the games by beating Rutgers and UNC but falling to Princeton and Maryland.