The Blue Devils continued to exhibit the offensive dominance they have exacted on opponents all season Sunday afternoon, beating LeMoyne (16-5) handily, 23-8, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The 23-goal performance was the highest total that No. 6 Duke (15-3) has posted this season. The second-seeded Blue Devils clearly demonstrated that their offensive machinery was perfectly fine-tuned in time for NCAA play.
Duke jumped out to an early lead against the Dolphins, netting four unanswered goals in the first five minutes of regulation. Three of those goals came from senior forward Kristen Waagbo, whose 41 goals this season ranks as the second highest total on the team. Waagbo trails only junior attacker and Tewaarton Award finalist Caroline Cryer, who has 64 goals.
"Offensively, we did a great job controlling the tempo of the game," Waagbo said. "We wanted to limit the time our team spent on defense, and I think we just did a great job by working really well together and pushing the tempo."
Cryer and Waagbo both scored four goals on the day, and Cryer moved to within six goals of tying Duke's record for goals in a season-a record currently held by former Blue Devil Katie Chrest, who notched 70 in 2005.
Cryer's attitude and fire on offense set the tone for the Blue Devils.
"She's a gamer," Waagbo said. "From the first whistle, she's 100 percent there and ready to go."
But the Dolphins did their best not to buckle under Duke's high-pressure offense, particularly early in the contest. After three unassisted goals by midfielder Amanda Keegan, LeMoyne managed to work itself out of its early hole and pull within one to 5-4 seven minutes in.
But Duke basically sealed the game at the end of the first half when it barraged the Dolphin defense with seven goals to give the team a 13-6 lead.
After halftime, things stayed the same for the Blue Devils, who opened up the second period with a 5-1 run that put the game way out of reach for the overmatched Dolphins.
Duke hosts seventh-seeded Johns Hopkins (11-7) Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium. The No. 8 Blue Jays got past Hofstra 12-8 May 13 in their first round matchup.
Although the Blue Devils did not face Johns Hopkins this season, the teams match up very well against each other.
To counter Cryer, Johns Hopkins fields a Tewaarton finalist of its own in senior attacker Mary Key.
Key is a major offensive threat who ranks first nationally in points per game, third in assists per game and sixth in goals per game. Cryer is fifth nationally in scoring, but is unranked in assists and is 19th in points per game.
However, head coach Kirsten Kimel points to defense and consistent team play as the keys to advancing in the tournament.
"[Against LeMoyne] we did a good job of winning the draw and controlling the ball. We've also worked on our offensive transition a little, and I think that really came into play," Kimel said. "We're going to try to get better in these areas and shore up our defense in trying to get ready for Johns Hopkins."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.