Riding high from the energy of besting rival North Carolina, Duke continued its trend, icing out the opponent while racking up goals for itself.
The Blue Devils held East Tennessee State goalless in a Sunday night performance at Koskinen Stadium, replete with a “Bark in the Park” theme. Duke sent the visiting team packing up a 5-0 loss, each goal scored by a different Blue Devil.
With just over 10 minutes left in the game, East Tennessee State’s Madi Hook received a yellow card for a play against Duke junior forward Devin Lynch. As Lynch stepped back to rush forward for the free kick, the Blue Devils already held a comfortable 4-0 lead over the Buccaneers. When the ball arched into the goal just past East Tennessee State goalkeeper Ashton Blair, the assembled Duke fans — and their dogs — rose up to cheer her on. Lynch’s goal pushed Duke over the top for a season-high five goals, firmly securing the home victory.
“We’re in good form right now,” said head coach Robbie Church. “We're not only creating opportunities, but [32] shots, five goals is good, good output.”
Lynch’s goal came with her first start of the season, which she took in the place of junior Kat Rader, out for the rest of the season with an injury.
“It’s an absolute heartbreaker,” Church said of Rader’s injury, which comes on the heels of her fellow junior Elle Piper suffering a knee injury in the season opener. “We’ve lost some good players. It’s hard. I’m so proud of our team and the other girls that step forward.”
Stepping forward was the name of the game for the Blue Devils (4-1-0) on Sunday evening. From the first minutes, it was clear that Duke planned to use its defensive dominance to ice out the Buccaneers (1-4-1) and put on an offensive masterclass in the process.
Fifth-year Katie Groff and junior Farrah Walters both came out aggressive on offense with two powerful shots for the Blue Devils early on. It was Walters, assisted by Groff and Groff’s fellow fifth-year Ella Hase, who would eventually sneak the ball past Blair to put Duke’s first goal on the board.
Shortly after, mere minutes after being subbed in and on her first touch of the game, freshman Mary Long scored her first goal as a Blue Devil. She found it off a well-placed pass back from Lynch, who ended the game with a season-high five shots in addition to her goal and assist.
“I just saw a little pocket of space in the box,” Long said. “I knew [Lynch] was gonna cut it back, because that's one ball she's really good at, so I just tried to get it in that area.”
The Blue Devils walked into the locker room with a 2-0 lead, and about two minutes into the second half, Long’s fellow freshman Sophia Recupero also made her Duke scoring debut. After Blair blocked midfielder Maggie Graham’s attempt to walk away with goals scored in three straight games, Recupero stepped up as the ball bounced back, surging forward for the goal to make the score 3-0.
As the second half progressed and a victory for the Blue Devils began to look more and more assured, sophomore defensive phenom Cameron Roller got her chance for a little offensive action. Junior Carina Lageyre powered the goal in on a corner kick, and Roller jumped up to head the ball into the back corner of the net as she scored Duke’s penultimate goal for the night.
On top of her goal, Roller helped lead Duke’s backline through the game. Its stifling defense left graduate goalkeeper Leah Freeman with little work to do in this matchup. She did not have to make a single save, a welcome break from the game against North Carolina which had demanded she make five. All three rostered goalkeepers saw the field for the Blue Devils, but Roller and the backline preemptively stopped East Tennessee from getting anywhere near them. The Buccaneers only earned one shot in the entire game as Duke marched its way toward its fourth straight shutout. Thus far, Duke has only allowed one goal this season, in its season opener against Ohio State.
“We've got to really, really rely on that defense and continue to have clean sheets as we go forward,” said Church. “Fantastic performance. [Roller] has just grown. She has shown me she's an All-American candidate here, not only an All-ACC but an All-American candidate.”
Duke already finds itself with 13 goals on the season, only two goals away from matching the 15 it had all of last year.
“It was almost like a professional job today. I thought they came out and we were on the front foot from the beginning of the game,” said Church.
With the impressive win, the Blue Devils stay perfect at home and look to wrap up their four-game homestand against Missouri Thursday evening.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.