The start of a new season brings a clean state and an opportunity to leave the past in the rear view mirror.
From the first whistle Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium, No. 4 Duke (1-0) put its foot on the gas and never looked back, cruising to a 21-9 victory over Ohio State (0-1).
The Blue Devils wasted no time getting started, as redshirt junior Emma Hamm notched the first goal of the season less than two minutes into the contest. Less than 12 minutes later, Duke had already piled up a 9-1 lead over the Buckeyes on redshirt freshman Maddie Salamone’s goal. It came off a free-position shot from the right side of the eight-meter arc with 16:30 remaining in the first half.
“We didn’t really know what to expect from Ohio State,” senior Virginia Crotty said. “So I think we handled it extremely well. We came out as a force, we came out ready to go and play today. I think for us in the past, it’s been difficult for us to come out and play great immediately. So that was a goal of ours, we did it and we capitalized, and I’m very proud of all of them.”
The Buckeyes managed to trim the lead down to five by the 13-minute mark, but the Blue Devils simply had too many offensive weapons for Ohio State’s zone defense. Hamm notched three of her team-leading four goals in the first half, and Duke led 14-5 going into the break.
The Blue Devils’ balanced attack spread out the Buckeyes’ defense and opened shooting lanes to key their offensive explosion. Duke used both sides of the field effectively and was dangerous from behind the net as well, utilizing its superior athleticism to knife through the defense.
“We won the draw, we took care of the ball and I felt like our spacing on offense and our ball movement really helped us find where the open people were,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “We just took advantage of the defense they were playing against us.”
The offensive balance led to impeccable efficiency for the Blue Devils. They needed only 29 shots to post 21 goals, an impressive 72.4 percent success rate. A sharp passing display resulted in 13 Duke assists on the afternoon, including a team-leading three from Crotty and senior Christie Kaestner, who matched her assist total with three goals of her own to lead the team with six points.
By comparison, Ohio State managed only seven goals on 15 shots against starting goalie Mollie Mackler, who posted a solid 53.3 save percentage in her first game back from injury.
Overall it was a strong start for the Blue Devils, who are eager to leave their injury-riddled past behind and head down a new road. If Saturday was any indication, Duke could be in for a wild ride.
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