The women's lacrosse team took a few minutes to work out its first-game jitters, but it was smooth sailing from there as Duke won its season-opener in dominant fashion.
The No. 2 Blue Devils (1-0) downed Longwood (0-1), 19-3, at the New Athletics Complex in Farmville, Va.
"It was kind of the typical first game of the year," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "It was a little sloppy. Out of the gate, we had a few too many turnovers for my liking but that's typically what you expect in the first game of the year. There were some nerves and we were away, but overall I was really pleased with the way we played."
Lancer junior Cathleen Strain scored the first goal of the contest just 3:35 into the game. But then the Blue Devils, who are coming off their best season in program history, took over.
Duke scored nine straight goals, including four from junior Kristen Waagbo, to take a 9-1 lead into halftime. Waagbo, the team's second leading scorer a year ago, also added two assists.
"It was a very fast paced first half," Kimel said. "We did a great job of pressuring them into turnovers on defense and were able to capitalize on them."
The second half produced a similar type of offensive explosion for the Blue Devils as they outscored Longwood, 10-2. Freshman midfielder Carolyn Davis scored three goals in her collegiate debut and reigning Tewaaraton Trophy winner Katie Chrest also netted three scores.
"We had a really good mix of transition goals and goals in our settled offense," Kimel said. "I was really pleased, I thought the scoring was really well distributed."
The offense was clicking nicely for most of the game, reflecting the fact that Duke returned its top seven scorers from last year.
The Blue Devils' defense, however, had to work at times to successfully incorporate in its new players. Although Megan Huether, the Goalie of the Year in 2005, returns in net, Duke had to replace four key players from the defensive unit.
"I felt like in the first half, when they didn't have a lot of action, they were a little unorganized," Kimel said of the defense. "We were not as poised as I think we're capable of playing. They saw a little more action in the second half when we started subbing more. I really thought they made Longwood earn their goals."
Huether finished the game with six saves and only allowed one goal.
Duke also forced 16 turnovers, many of which were converted into fast breaks and unsettled situations, particularly during the team's nine-goal spurt in the first half. The Blue Devils ended the game with a 35-19 shot advantage.
"We were able to run through a lot of our stuff," Huether said. "I give [Longwood] a lot of credit, they went hard the entire time. It was really good for us to see a team that really pressured us a lot. They did a really good job of forcing us to play strong and keep coming at them."
After grabbing their large first-half lead, the Blue Devils were able to give some of their freshmen some game experience. Kimel said her team has enough depth and talent to match up with nearly every team in the country.
"The first couple of games this season, we're still trying to work with different combinations and see who works well," Kimel said. "We might win games 19-3 and there may be times where it is not pretty lacrosse, but we're working through our substitution rotation and all of this will eventually settle in."
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