Make it two in a row against ACC foes.
No. 8 Duke topped unranked Virginia Tech, 18-11, Monday in Blacksburg, Va. in the Blue Devils' (9-5, 3-2 in the ACC) last conference game of the season.
Despite the final score, the game did not start in Duke's favor. The Hokies (4-12, 0-4) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening five minutes of the game, with the Blue Devils unable to find the cage for the first 12 minutes of play.
Instead of calling timeout to assess the team's situation, however, head coach Kerstin Kimel left it up to her players to turn things around on their own.
"I really wanted the girls to have to feel like, 'OK, we're down, and we have to gather our composure and win the draw,'" Kimel said. "I was proud of them that we didn't have to call a timeout."
The Blue Devils' resurgence was spurred by a goal from midfielder Jess Adam after junior Carolyn Davis regained possession for Duke with a ground ball pickup. A little more than a minute and a half later, Sarah Bullard notched a goal to bring the score within one, and in the next minute, sophomore Lindsay Gilbride whipped a free position shot past Hokie goalkeeper Kari Morrison to knot the score at three apiece.
On the subsequent draw, Allie Johnson gained possession, one of five draw controls for the senior in the game. Again, Gilbride got the ball and zinged a shot into the back of the net with 15:51 to go in the half to give the Blue Devils their first lead of the game.
Although Virginia Tech tallied another goal shortly thereafter to tie the game at four, the Blue Devils' momentum was too much to be stopped. Duke added five more points to their lead before the Hokies could respond. Johnson, sophomore Danielle Kachulis, and Adam each contributed a goal to the scoring outburst and junior Megan del Monte added two to solidify Duke's edge at 9-4.
After a free position goal from Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils' Jess McBride answered in kind with her own penalty shot for the last word of the period and a five-goal Duke lead going into halftime.
"We just had to do the little things in the first half," said Gilbride, who had four goals and an assist on the night. "Once we just got in our flow and had the lead back, we knew it wasn't going to go the other way."
The second half proved to be a bit closer, with the Hokies scoring first in the period and topping Duke in draw controls, 10-6. But the Blue Devils shut the door on Virginia Tech with three goals in a row, including two in nine seconds from Kachulis and Gilbride, respectively. Although the teams traded goals over a seven-minute span in the middle of the period, the Hokies could not overcome the Blue Devils' dominant shooting-70 percent of shots on goal-and an .875 clear percentage.
"They turned the ball over more than we did," Kimel said. "We took really good care of the ball, and Virginia Tech didn't. Our kids caused some really good turnovers, Kim [Imbesi] had some really good saves at key times, and we never really let them have any momentum going."
With the 18-11 win, Duke is currently third in the ACC. The team faces Vanderbilt (10-4) Sunday in Nashville, Tenn. for its final regular-season game.
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