After Friday night's shutout loss to Florida State, women's soccer coach Robbie Church vowed there would be changes to his offense. Wednesday night in Cary, N.C., the changes paid off for the No. 18 Blue Devils (9-4-1, 2-2 in the ACC) with a 3-1 win over N.C. State (7-6-1, 0-4).
Duke took charge of the game on midfielder Darby Kroyer's rocket from 30 yards out in the 36th minute. Midfielder Shelly Marshall picked up an assist on the goal, which provided a 1-0 halftime margin.
Forward Carolyn Riggs and defender Kate Seibert scored goals for the Blue Devils early in the second half with forward Gwendolyn Oxenham assisting on both. Midfielder Casey McCluskey, the focal point of the team's adjustments on offense, picked up an assist on Riggs' goal.
"We ran a lot through Casey," Church said. "That was one of the changes we made. She was extremely dangerous all night and was the dominant player of the match."
The Blue Devils controlled play until late in the second half, taking a 3-0 lead and dominating the Wolfpack 7-1 in corner kick opportunities. Church attributed some of the team's command to the modification put into the team's game plan after the Florida State game.
"It was a solid performance from us," he said. "We kept possession better, we got people forward better and we created better numbers forward. We were all disappointed after the Florida State game and the girls were determined to come out and play better. We thought we could play with more intensity and be a little more aggressive and we did."
After two consecutive road games, the team is looking forward to returning home to face its next big test, Virginia, ranked No. 4 and unbeaten in the ACC.
"We're looking forward to Saturday night," Church said. "We're excited to have the opportunity to play one of the top teams in the nation on our home field."
After the game against Virginia, Duke has two more conference games before the start of the ACC tournament. Church said that tonight's win, which gave the Blue Devils a .500 record in the ACC, was a big one.
Despite the victory, the team knows it still has work to do before the start of the tournament.
"We've still got to improve on giving the final ball in the last third of the field," Church said. "We're talented enough to create a lot of scoring opportunities, and we have to keep on working hard to finish those opportunities."
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