Seniors Katie Trees and Brigid Smith recorded hat tricks to lead No. 3 Duke to a 15-6 win against No. 18 Ohio State Thursday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. With the victory, the Blue Devils improved to 5-1 against ranked opponents this season.
Seniors Kerrin Maurer and Taylor Trimble—who scored two goals apiece—got Duke on the board with a pair of strikes within the first minute of the game, and Trees recorded the first of her six points on the afternoon with a goal 90 seconds into the contest to stake Duke (13-1) to a quick 3-0 lead.
The Buckeyes (10-4) countered with Jennifer Poretto's 27th goal of the season, but the Blue Devil defense stifled Ohio State the rest of the half. Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea recorded three saves and the Duke defense forced Ohio State into 10 turnovers before intermission, allowing the offense to control the game.
Fourteen seconds after Poretto's tally, freshman Kyra Harney put home her 24th goal of the season, kickstarting a 5-0 Blue Devil run to close the half that put Duke ahead by a comfortable 8-1 margin heading into the locker room.
Halftime did nothing to slow down the home team's momentum, as the Blue Devils netted the first two goals of the second 30 minutes on unassisted scores from Trees and Smith. By the the time Ohio State put another goal on the scoreboard with 23:34 to play—snapping a scoreless drought of 33 minutes—the Buckeyes were facing an insurmountable 10-2 deficit.
The teams traded scores until Duke rattled off another 3-0 run—capped by the third and final goal of the day from Trees—with 5:43 left to stretch the lead into double-figures.
Duryea saved five more shots in the second half to finish with eight on the day, and the defense in front of her forced 10 more turnovers. Valuing the ball proved to be critical, as he Buckeyes' 20 turnovers were double the number of giveaways committed by the Blue Devils.
After Thursday's lopsided win, Trees and Harney became the third and fourth Blue Devils to reach the 25-goal plateau on the season, and Trimble will join that club on her next score. Smith leads Duke with 30 goals on the season, jumping ahead of Maurer, who has 29 and leads the Blue Devils in points scored with 53.
Duke is off this weekend and will conclude the regular season with its annual rivalry game April 17 against North Carolina at Koskinen Stadium. The Tar Heels are the only other ACC team with just one conference loss, meaning next Friday's clash could determine the regular season ACC champion.
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