After dropping three of its previous four contests, No. 9 Duke needed a strong win to build some momentum before heading into the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils managed just that Saturday afternoon against Ohio State.
Led by senior Makenzie Hommel, Duke (11-4) pulled away late in the first half to cruise to a 15-9 victory against the Buckeyes.
“As a unit, coming off three away games with two of them being a loss, I think this was a chance for us to gain our momentum back,” Hommel said.
Hommel paced the Blue Devil offense, notching a career-high five goals against the Buckeyes. It was her first half performance that set the tone for the game. The senior matched the entire Ohio State (6-8) offense in the first half with three goals of her own.
Duke jumped out to the early lead, with freshman Kelci Smesko putting the Blue Devils ahead only 1:09 into the game.
The Buckeyes were not held scoreless for long. Mary Kate Facchina scored on a free position shot to knot the score at one apiece. The senior played alongside her sister Cara, who also notched a goal in the opening half.
Following Facchina’s goal, Hommel decided it was time to step up and the senior did just that, scoring the next two goals for Duke.
After going goal-for-goal with the Buckeyes, Duke went on a tear in the last five minutes of the first half. With their lead whittled down to one following a goal from Cara Facchina, the Blue Devils reeled off three goals in two minutes.
The final goal of the half came off an assist from sophomore Kerrin Maurer and gave Hommel her 40th goal of the season.
Both teams entered Saturday’s contest averaging 26.5 shots per contest, but tight defense by both held them in check early on, with Ohio State and Duke taking nine and 10 shots, respectively.
Even though they only took 10 shots, the Blue Devils were efficient in the first half, with eight of those shots being on goal. Seven of those shots-on-goal found the back of the net. It was the exceptional play of the Buckeyes’ Facchina sisters that kept Ohio State in the game, scoring two of their three first half goals.
Hommel took advantage of the Buckeyes’ aggressive defense, maneuvering past defenders to open lanes for herself. On the other end of the field, Duke made sure to close these kinds of gaps, denying any easy cuts to the goal for Ohio State.
“We were able to spread it out wide and draw the defense out so it was easier to create lanes and the defense was sliding and our players were getting open,” Hommel said.
Both squads opened the second half looking to attack, and did so successfully, scoring three goals apiece in the first 10 minutes.
But the defense set in after the 20-minute mark. With the exception of a Blue Devil goal by Maddy Morrissey with 18:16 left, Duke and Ohio State remained scoreless for nearly 11 minutes.
Katie Chase brought the Buckeyes within five with just less than 10 minutes to play. Unfortunately for Ohio State, this would be the last time it came close to mounting a comeback. The Blue Devils went on to score three straight goals to put the game out of reach and secure the victory.
Duke was able to do so after it turned up its defensive intensity, not allowing Ohio State a clean look at the goal for the majority of the final 20 minutes, excluding a free position shot by Alli Dawson with 1:10 remaining and the game already decided.
“They play a very, very different style than what we’re accustomed to playing,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “We did a great job of denying their cuts.” Cara Facchina closed the game with a goal with 22 seconds remaining, bringing the sisters’ total to three on the day.
Moving forward, Duke will face No. 5 seed Virginia Thursday to kick off its ACC Tournament play.
“Next weekend is a big test at the ACC Tournament,” Kimel said. “We’re going to have to play really well against a very good Virginia team who’s going to be desperate for a win.”
If the Blue Devils can defeat the Cavaliers on Thursday, they will prepare for a rematch against top-ranked Maryland. But Kimel maintained that her team will take things slow and focus on a Virginia team that is looking to avenge an early season loss to Duke.
“There’s so much of the season that’s got to be played, there’s so many big games left,” Kimel said. “For us, we have really tried this whole season to just take this one game at a time. I think as a young team you have to do that.”
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