After catching fire in the NCAA tournament last year en route to the national title game, the Blue Devils picked up right where they left off in their first action of 2016.
The preseason No. 3 team in the nation, Duke scored three goals in a span of 6:15 in the first half on its way to a 6-0 rout of Missouri in its only exhibition game this season at Koskinen Stadium. Junior forward Imani Dorsey scored two second-half goals and senior forward Toni Payne had one goal and one assist to lead an experienced Blue Devil squad playing without star defender Rebecca Quinn, who is representing Canada in the Olympics.
Even without Quinn, Duke dominated with its regular season opener just a week away.
"We’ve got some firepower, obviously, so we were able to find some space and run at them and create some things off the dribble," Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church said. "We had good movement off the ball, especially up front, and we finished some good goals, but we left some goals out there, too."
Duke controlled the match from the outset, creating scoring opportunities throughout the opening half. Missouri goalkeeper Kelsey Dossey turned away a couple of shots in the opening minutes before the Blue Devils broke through less than 10 minutes into the match.
Payne received a pass from Kayla McCoy in the middle of the field and fired a shot from the edge of the box at Dossey, who slowed the ball down but could not corral it as it trickled past her, allowing Payne to elude the Tiger keeper and power the ball into an empty net.
Duke was just getting started.
Three minutes later, sophomore midfielder Taylor Racioppi—who unexpectedly elected to stay at Duke this fall instead of competing in the U20 World Cup—delivered a corner kick to the far post just out of Dossey's reach. With the goalkeeper out of position, senior defender Lizzy Raben connected on a header to double Duke's lead.
A captain, Raben was injured after 20 minutes of play and walked gingerly off the field after a brief delay. She did not return to the game, but Church said she could have if necessary and that he expects her back at practice Sunday after the team has two days off.
Three minutes after the second goal, Payne found McCoy running down the left side of the field. The sophomore forward cut back to her right food to elude a defender then buried a shot into the top right corner of the net to put the home team up 3-0.
"The first game, an exhibition game, we wanted to come out and show what we could do," Payne said. "Our team came out with really great energy and I think we did really well in the beginning. It was awesome."
The early flurry of goals left little doubt about the outcome, allowing Church to experiment with different lineups and see how his newcomers would fare at the college level. Duke returns 10 of its 11 starters from last year's team but is also trying to integrate a third straight top-six recruiting class.
Freshman Mia Gyau started in the midfield and had an assist, and 2016 Gatorade National High School Player of the Year Ella Stevens made an impact right away after entering in the middle of the first half to begin her college career.
Payne found Stevens alone in the middle of the box with 15 minutes left before halftime, but the forward's shot was right at Dossey, who deflected it away for the save. Stevens finished the half with two shots on target and a header that was just wide of the goal.
Freshman Lexi Magliarditi also came off the bench to score the Blue Devils' last goal of the game with 6:38 remaining.
"[The freshmen] did well. Mia is a very athletic player and a very technical player. You still see her thinking a little bit—it’s not natural yet. That happens as a freshman," Church said. "Lexi, to score a goal and see the big smile on her face—that was exciting."
Dorsey snapped a Duke scoring drought of 46:59 with a goal to the bottom right corner of the net nearly 20 minutes into the second half, and she scored her second goal in quick succession to put the Blue Devils ahead 5-0 before Magliarditi's tally.
Duke outshot the Tigers—who missed the NCAA tournament last year but return eight starters—32-13 in the contest, and 16 Blue Devils took at least one shot. Every Duke player was on the field for at least 12 minutes.
The Blue Devils will look to keep their offense humming when they open the regular season next Friday against Wofford at 5 p.m. in Chapel Hill as part of the UNC Nike Classic.
"We played everybody on our roster that was eligible to play today, and I thought they all played well, so it was a good start," Church said. "But we know the real thing starts Friday in the Carolina Nike tournament, so we’ve got some errors we need to work on."
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