Saturday was a record-setting day for the Blue Devils as Duke scored 25 goals—the most in school history—and freshman Kerrin Maurer tied the program’s single-game record for assists with five as the Blue Devils rolled over Bucknell.
Receiving scoring contributions from 15 different players, No. 5 Duke (1-0) defeated the Bison (0-1) 25-3 Saturday at Koskinen Stadium.
It took the Blue Devils just over 30 seconds to get on the board, and after just 13 minutes of play, they had already accrued a 10-0 advantage over the Bison.
“We moved the ball really well. We have confidence in every single player, and we have a lot of depth on the bench,” said Duke sophomore Maddy Morrisey, who notched the first goal of the game. “It was just really awesome to see everyone score today.”
By the end of the 16th minute, Morrisey had already put away her third goal of the game, giving the Blue Devils an 11-1 advantage.
“Our goal offensively is to play aggressively, and we felt like we were able to do that right out of the gate,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “Our offense is a little young, and we want them to feel like they can get into a rhythm quickly and play hard.”
Duke’s youth did not prove to be a problem, as the newer Blue Devils did not hesitate to take control of the game early. In the first half alone, freshmen Kerrin Maurer, Birgid Smith, and Taylor Trimble combined for five goals in their debut, helping to put Duke up 17-1 at the break.
“[The freshmen] were great,” Morrissey said. “They had a lot of faith in themselves I love how they worked together and they also work with us really well. They’ve meshed into our team offense really, really well.”
In addition, Maurer—who would finish the game with three goals—had already tied the program’s single-game record for assists by halftime.
“I just think our offense was really flowing,” Maurer said. “I fit in today. It was just how everything fell into place that it happened to be me taking the shots and me that was taking the feeds that made it happen. “
Although the pace of play slowed down in the second period, the Blue Devils continued to attack, adding eight more goals as the freshmen continued to prove themselves.
Smith and Maurer each added another goal, and Callie Francis scored a goal, won a game-high three ground balls and forced a game-high two turnovers despite not playing in the first half.
“I’m not entirely surprised [by the performance of the freshmen] because I think we have some very talented freshmen who I’m confident are going to help us this year,” Kimel said. “But it was their first game, and we know that we have a long road ahead of us. This is definitely a nice game to start the year off for their confidence.”
Duke junior Alyssa Ogle also continued to pick apart the Bison defense in the second half, recording her third assist to go along with two goals for the game. As a team, the Blue Devils controlled 20-of-27 draws and outshot Bucknell 45-8.
“I’m really pleased given the fact that we’ve only practiced sixteen days that we were able to come out and play a pretty complete game from one end to the other,” Kimel said. “What we saw as coaches was a lot of what we worked on manifesting itself on the field, which is what you want to see... so I thought today was a great way to start the year off.”
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