With their first game against a top-15 opponent this year knotted at eight in the fourth quarter, it was a do-or-die situation for the Blue Devils.
They passed their first test with flying colors.
Led by midfielder Maddie Crutchfield’s career-high five goals and goalkeeper Jamie Lockwood’s nine saves, No. 10 Duke knocked off No. 12 Stanford 12-8 Saturday evening at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas, in the Patriot Cup. After the Cardinal tied it at eight with 10:40 remaining, Crutchfield found the back of the net with 6:48 left and the Blue Devils reeled off three more tallies to seal their first win against a ranked opponent this season.
“We played on a big stage today,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel told GoDuke.com. “Big picture, I think our girls handled it well. For us to be in a really tight game this early on a big stage was a great test for us.”
Although the Blue Devils (4-0) managed to score 12 goals, they struggled on offense at times early in the game. With the Cardinal’s zone defense sagging back to force low-percentage shots, the Duke offense was frustrated, particularly leading scorer Kyra Harney, who scored her lone goal with 17 seconds left in the contest as she settled into a distributing role with a team-leading four assists.
But Crutchfield was able to take advantage where Harney struggled shooting-wise, scoring the majority of her goals right around the crease. The Concord, N.H., native used her speed and timely cuts to create space and dismantle Stanford’s backline as the Cardinal defenders keyed on Harney.
It was the same story for the rest of the Blue Devil attackers, as Stanford (1-2) forced Duke to find other scoring options—the Blue Devil attack combined for just three goals on 11 shots. Duke recognized the Cardinal’s game plan later in the contest, as senior midfielder Stuart Humphrey and Crutchfield added insurance scores after Crutchfield’s go-ahead goal to seal the victory for the home side.
“The way we prepared our offense was to be adaptable and we thought that [All-American defender] Maura [Schwitter] would be open at the top [of the attacking third],” Crutchfield told GoDuke.com. “But at the end of the day their zone was blocking that off so it was leaving the crease [and] we took advantage of it.”
Lockwood held her own on the other end of the field, making a couple of timely saves to preserve the Blue Devils’ lead late in the contest. She finished with nine saves—matching her career-high—further cementing her hold on the starting netminder job with highly-touted freshman Gabbe Cadoux battling for playing time behind her.
Lockwood and the rest of Duke’s defense had to survive many sudden changes in possession as the Blue Devils were plagued by 24 turnovers. Although Duke was able to clear it successfully 18 times, the Blue Devils struggled in the neutral zone, often turning it over trying to get the ball into the offensive end on many of their miscues.
“We can’t turn the ball over 24 times as we get ready to head into ACC play,” Kimel said. “Our kids had some nerves and we were disorganized at times on offense and in transition that led to some of those careless turnovers.”
Despite all the turnovers, Duke was able to still control possession due to attack Olivia Jenner’s dominating performance at the draw. The sophomore had 11 solo draw controls—six more than Stanford had the entire game—and the Blue Devils had 17 overall. After nearly every Cardinal response, Kimel’s squad was able to regain possession to prevent a back-breaking Stanford run.
Outside of Duke’s four-goal scoring barrage to cap off the final period, the two sides struggled offensively in a largely back-and forth-game. Although the Blue Devils never trailed, the Cardinal knotted the contest up four separate times, and the squads combined for only seven goals in the first half.
After Duke took a 3-2 lead on freshman midfielder Catherine Corderey’s first of two tallies, the Blue Devils went on an 18-minute scoring drought—the streak was snapped on a Schwitter goal in which she came up from the defense to score right on the goal’s doorstep. But Stanford could not take advantage of Duke’s inability to create on offense, as Lockwood and company forced the Cardinal attackers into disadvantageous double teams that led to defensive stops.
The Blue Devils will need more of the same defensive contributions combined with timely scoring in the following weeks, as they kick off conference play next Sunday against No. 8 Notre Dame at home.
“It’s definitely what we needed—going 4-0 before our ACC stretch—but we have a lot to work on with a lot of turnovers, so we’re looking forward to getting back to practice,” Crutchfield said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.