Propelled by the continued strong play of Carolyn Davis, who posted six goals, the No. 5 Blue Devils pulled out a 14-9 win against Boston College Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Duke (10-3, 3-1 in the ACC) overcame a slow start and rainy, unseasonably cold conditions in the victory.
The Eagles (7-7, 0-5) came out physical, and Duke soon found itself down 3-0 after the game's first three minutes. But Davis scored on a free position goal at 26:08, and the Blue Devils went on a 4-0 run to take control of the game. They took a 7-6 lead into the locker room at halftime and never looked back.
"I felt as though we got off to a little bit of a slow start, then settled in," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "I thought the game was really physical and emotional, and once we got settled in and got used to the way it was going, we did a much better job in playing defense and playing our offense."
Duke, and Davis, came out strong in the beginning of the second half. Emma Hamm hit Davis with a pass to put the Blue Devils up 8-6. She would score again just a minute later, and would have four of her game-high six goals in the second half.
"I think Carolyn did a really great job," Kimel said. "She had a lot of pressure on her during the game, and she had a couple of great goals that really pulled the second half together."
A wide-open Lindsay Gilbride pushed the lead to four with a goal of her own, and two unassisted Davis goals had Duke up 12-7.
The offensive explosion came at an unexpected time-right when the weather started to go south.
"Conditions got much worse in the second half. It was very cold and raw, and as the game wore on, it got worse," Kimel said. "I feel we did a good job of controlling the game tempo during that stretch."
The game was a fitting end to a tough road trip for the Blue Devils, in which they saw a big win against No. 10 Virginia and a 13-7 loss against No. 1 Northwestern.
And next weekend is as good a time as any to return to Koskinen Stadium. For the first time since March 20, the Blue Devils will be home-and playing rival North Carolina.
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