Despite an 11-3 lead midway through the second half Sunday, No. 4 Duke (2-0) was beginning to look a little shaken.
After two quick Steph Greeless goals, the visiting Denver Pioneers (0-2) seemed to have finally wrestled momentum away from the Blue Devils and were threatening to make the game competitive again. On the ensuing possession, junior Katie Chrest and freshman Jessica Adam began passing the ball across the field to one another, attempting to slow down the Pioneers’ charge.
Suddenly, the ball was rocketed toward the front of the Denver goal where freshman Carolyn Cryer waited. She received the pass and sent it off into the back of the Pioneers’ net.
The goal gave Duke a 12-3 advantage, one it would quickly expand upon on its way to a 21-6 win. The Blue Devils were able to utilize their tremendous depth down the stretch, constantly rotating in fresh reserves to take advantage of a tired and depleted Denver defense. Cryer’s goal at 18:37 set off a 12-minute stretch during which the Blue Devils tallied 10 goals from nine different players.
In addition, a total of 30 players saw action at some point Sunday, with many members of the freshman class having to overcome some nerves as they played the first game of their collegiate careers.
“They need experience,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said of the freshman class. “They need to play at this level. I think that just stepping on the field for a real game versus a scrimmage, from a preparation and mental standpoint, is different.”
Chrest tallied two quick goals five minutes into the game. Duke would push its lead to 6-0 before Tara Bourdelaise finally put Denver on the board with 9:48 left in the first half. The Blue Devils added two more goals before the halftime break and maintained a 10-1 lead before the Pioneers began to respond.
Sophomore Kristen Waagbo led the Blue Devils offensively with four goals and two assists. Chrest and sophomore Michelle Menser each netted three goals and one assist while Cryer finished with one goal and a pair of assists. A total of 14 Blue Devils picked up a point, and goalie Megan Huether made eight saves on 11 shots, playing all but six minutes.
The Blue Devils opened their season with a turnover-marred 16-4 win against Duquesne (1-1) Friday. Behind four-goal performances from both Chrest and Waagbo, Duke turned an early one-goal deficit into a daunting 9-1 halftime advantage. But the Blue Devils did not control the ball well after the break as they allowed 16 Duquesne shots and committed 13 turnovers.
As a result, Duke sought to shore up its defensive performance against Denver by slowing down the speed of the Pioneers’ attack. These efforts came to fruition as Duke was able to hold Denver to 16 shots and forced it into 25 turnovers. Critical to the Blue Devils’ success was the Pioneers’ inability to find open targets down the field, forcing their midfielders to cradle the ball head-on into Duke’s awaiting defense.
“We were trying to be really relentless in the midfield,” Waagbo said. “We tried to get off quick double-teams because [against Duquesne], it was too easy for them to get the ball to their offense. We really wanted to just slow the ball down this game.”
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