It was all Mia all night.
As sophomore Mia Minestrella headed the ball into the back of the net off of a cross from graduate student Ella Hase, not only did she put Duke up 6-0 over Howard, she also became the first player in Duke history to score four goals in an NCAA Tournament game.
“I said to the girls in the huddle that it was the most important thing for us to make a statement,” said Maggie Graham, graduate student and ACC Midfielder of the Year. “For Mia to get four goals, that is just amazing.”
Duke certainly did make a statement in front of its home crowd at Koskinen Stadium Friday evening. Minestrella’s four goals — half of the eight Duke scored on the night — helped power the Blue Devils to a dominant 8-0 win against Howard in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
From the beginning of the match, it was clear that the Bison had run into a Duke team on a mission to build back confidence after a devastating 2-1 loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals. In that game, the Blue Devils could not seem to find their offense rhythm; against Howard, they could not seem to lose it.
“Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us, they kind of ran into a little bit of a buzz saw. I knew that was coming.” head coach Robbie Church said. “We’re a team [that] really wanted to be playing in the ACC Championship, but knew we couldn't. We had to prepare for this.”
Minestrella started off her record-setting goal scoring early in the first half. Though the game was only in its 18th minute when Minestrella scored, the Blue Devils had already logged six shots while the Bison had yet to get one. The Redondo Beach, Calif., native found herself with the ball in the box. A sea of Bison jerseys surrounded her, but Minestrella expertly spun around and managed to shoot the ball low on the left side of the net just past Howard goalie Trinity Knox for the first Duke goal of the evening.
Ten minutes later, off of a pass from Hannah Bebar and in nearly the same spot as she had scored her earlier goal, Minestrella once again found the back of the net to give Duke a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
Mere minutes after the Blue Devils walked out of the halftime locker room, Minestrella once again found herself in the box. Knox deflected Minestrella’s shot, momentarily denying her the hat trick. But Graham was lying in wait to score, and as the ball bounced off of Knox, Graham surged forward and shot it into the back-left corner of the net.
“You can feel it in everything we do,” Graham said. “The joy and the fun behind the soccer we're playing.”
There was pure joy across Graham’s face and across those of her teammates as Graham recorded her fourth career brace a few minutes later. Hase, who is second on the team in assists, crossed the ball across the left side of the field where Graham was waiting to strike her second goal of the night into the net, building Duke’s lead to an impressive 4-0.
But the Blue Devils weren’t done. Two minutes later, they would extend their lead to 5-0. Though she had been denied the hat trick earlier, Minestrella refused to be denied this time, and Koskinen Stadium erupted into cheers as she powered a pass from sophomore Phoebe Goldthwaithe to the back of the net.
“It's a credit to my teammates, honestly, for finding me in good positions,” Minestrella said. “It’s not only just me, scoring goals, so I think it's a credit to them.”
In the closing minutes of the game, two of Duke’s freshmen, Mary Long and Sophia Recupero, both scored, rounding out the Blue Devils’ eight goals of the night.
Though the main focus of the game was the eight goals scored, Duke’s defense also played a crucial role in the shutout win. Howard only got off two shots in the game, one in the first half and one in the second. The defensive backline, headed by ACC Defender of the Year Cameron Roller, was airtight as they logged their ninth shutout of the season.
Still, scoring goals has been a key part of Duke’s identity this season. After scoring only 15 goals last season, the Blue Devils have more than quadrupled that total with 62 so far this season.
“I wish I could say we have a magic drill that we have done every day,” Church said. “Once you start feeling, you start to get on a roll. And we've been on a roll all year for the most part.”
The Blue Devils now advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they will host Texas Tech Friday evening at 6:30.
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