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Freshmen steal the show on Senior Day as Duke women's soccer routs N.C. State

<p>Freshman Taylor Racioppi broke a long scoreless drought with a goal late in the first half Sunday, getting back on track right before the start of postseason play.</p>

Freshman Taylor Racioppi broke a long scoreless drought with a goal late in the first half Sunday, getting back on track right before the start of postseason play.

The Blue Devils honored their seniors Sunday afternoon, but it was the underclassmen who stole the spotlight.

Thanks to three first-half goals from freshmen Chelsea Burns and Taylor Racioppi and two more scores from sophomores Ashton Miller and Imani Dorsey, No. 22 Duke blitzed N.C. State 5-0 on Senior Day at Koskinen Stadium. With the victory against the Wolfpack, the Blue Devils concluded their first 10-win regular season since 2012 and gave themselves a good chance of hosting the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“[This season] our struggles have been just finishing goals, [so I’m happy] with the five goals today, obviously,” Duke head coach Robbie Church said. “I’ve been happy with how we [have] defended all year. I’ve been happy with how we defended set plays. But we talked about how much we’ve worked on finishing in training so it was fantastic to see how that really came to play in a game.”

The Blue Devils (10-5-4, 4-3-3 in the ACC) needed some time to break through against an N.C. State team that entered the game with 39 goals against—the weakest defense in the conference. But once Burns found the back of the net after finishing a give-and-go play with Racioppi in the 27th minute, the floodgates opened.

Only 57 seconds later, Duke doubled its advantage. Burns found a deflected ball on the Wolfpack’s defensive third and rifled a curling 25-yard shot that goalkeeper Sydney Wootten could not stop. The goals were the first two of the freshman's career.

“On the second shot, the first goal was still in my head a little bit so I was more willing to try things,” Burns said. “We happened to get defenders to train shots this week so it’s funny how that works out.”

With 13 minutes to play before intermission, sophomore midfielder Ashton Miller made it a three-goal game. Junior midfielder Toni Payne found an opening in N.C. State’s back line and assisted right defender Morgan Reid, who put an inviting cross inside the box that Miller finished with a first-touch shot from the penalty spot.

Although the Blue Devils had cemented their victory with more than 55 minutes to play, Church’s squad was still hungry for more.

In the 41st minute, Racioppi—who led Duke’s offense with four shots—found the back of the net to make the score 4-0, snapping a 14-match scoreless drought. Payne assisted the Ocean Township, N.J., native, who dribbled past a defender and racked up a shot from 20 yards out for her fifth goal of the season.

“As an attacking player, scoring is on the list of to-dos,” Racioppi said. “[Today’s goal] is definitely a confidence-booster. It’s good to get back into the rhythm.”

Duke sealed its rout in the 71st minute. Junior captain Christina Gibbons sent a deep cross from the right flank inside the six-yard box and Dorsey netted her third goal in four games with a header.

The six Blue Devil veterans—seniors Kara Wilson and Courtney McDaniel and redshirts Kelly McCann, Danielle Duhl, Cassie Pecht and Sammie Thomas—were part of the starting lineup against the Wolfpack (4-15-0, 0-10-0).

Only 20 seconds into the opening period, Payne and freshman Kayla McCoy replaced Pecht and McDaniel, respectively. The two veterans did not return to the pitch due to previous injuries, but the other four seniors totaled at least 33 minutes each.

“We haven’t been the class that is always on the field. We haven’t been starters and we haven’t been standout soccer players per se,” Duhl said. “But we have the heart of a lion as a class. We’ve been through injuries. We’ve been through ups and downs and that sends a message to the players below us. No matter what happens, we’ve always believed in the mission of our team and what we’re doing out here. If we leave anything behind, it’s that spirit and that drive to keep pushing.”

Defensively, Duke only allowed three shot attempts, just one of which was on frame. With only two goals against in its last six contests, Church’s squad registered its 11th shutout this fall.

“Sometimes we don’t grab the game at different segments of the game, but we were so much more hungry today,” Church said. “We saw that early [this season] and sometimes obviously it flattens out over the course of the year. But I saw that come back. And man, hunger is the best thing to see at this time of the year because that’s how you advance in the NCAA tournament.”

Although the Blue Devils will not play in the four-team ACC tournament—which runs Friday through Sunday—they will return to NCAA tournament action after one year of being left out. The bracket will be announced Nov. 9 and the first round will start Nov. 13.

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