The Duke women's soccer team rolled over two opponents this weekend in the Duke Women's Soccer Classic and improved its record to 10-1-1, continuing the best start in the program's history.
"This team has come together a lot quicker than any team we've ever had," Blue Devil head coach Bill Hempen said. "It's a collective effort. I think the maturity of our upperclassmen is starting to show through right now."
Duke was able to post two shutouts, beating Ohio State 3-0 on Friday night and defeating No. 18 George Washington 2-0 on Saturday night.
The story of the weekend was the Blue Devil defense. Duke held its two opponents to a combined 21 shots and played dominating soccer.
The Blue Devils' job was all the more impressive because they were able to do it without starting freshman defender Samantha Baggett, who was out with a strained ligament in her ankle. To make matters worse, Duke lost junior defender Deanna Kreidel, who was playing in Baggett's place, in Friday's game to a knee injury.
Baggett and Kreidel will practice today and hope to play in Tuesday's game versus UNC-Greensboro.
"We've got an injury right now to Samantha Baggett," Hempen said. "And then Kriedel steps in and plays Friday night, and she gets injured. Then Christie Monroe steps in and plays with a black eye.
"It's kind of like we're put together with tape back there on defense. Normally it's difficult to get in a rhythm both offensively and defensively when you don't have a consistent defense."
A key element in the defense all weekend was junior goalkeeper Melissa Carr. George Washington only managed eight shots Saturday, but those shots included a couple of difficult balls to handle. Carr made two great saves on shots that were headed into the upper right corner of the goal. Both times she was able to deflect the ball over the crossbar to prevent a score.
"Melissa Carr was very consistent tonight," Hempen said. "It was maybe one of the best games that she's played."
After giving up seven goals at last weekend's St. Louis tournament, the Blue Devils needed to regain some confidence defensively. Two shutouts certainly helped them do that.
"The two shutouts are great because we've been getting scored on a lot," junior forward Kelly Walbert said. "It's good confidence for Melissa -- she's playing really, really well right now. Our defense is playing really well, and it's important for that part of our team to be confident."
Walbert scored the first goal against George Washington at the 26:39 mark of the first half. Freshman Kari Juncker sent a long through pass to Andi Melde, whose shot was barely deflected by George Washington goalkeeper Traci Jensen. The ball rebounded six yards out, and Walbert, who had been trailing the play, pounded it into the back of the net to give Duke the lead.
Less than 10 minutes later, senior Meegan McMullin scored to make the margin 2-0 with 18:43 left in the half. The goal was created by the play of three freshman -- defender Lauren Cyran, Juncker and Melde. Cyran played a long ball to Juncker down the left side, Juncker crossed it to Melde in the middle and Melde gave a short pass to McMullin, who put it in the back of the net.
Melde provided a spark off the bench for the Blue Devils against George Washington. They scored their first goal less than a minute after Melde entered the game. Her energetic play was noticed and appreciated by her teammates.
"She came in and had two assists right away, it was unbelievable," Walbert said. "I told her, `Way to come in and make something happen.' And that's exactly what she did.
"It was a fire that we definitely needed. Each person has good games and good spurts, and that was definitely one of Andi's better games. She worked her tail off, and I commend her for that."
Duke dominated most of the game, taking 25 shots on the George Washington goal. The offense created many chances to score in the second half, but was unable to get a third goal and totally put the game away.
In the game against Ohio State on Friday, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, winning by the same score. Heidi Durham, Mandy Manzanes, and Walbert scored the Blue Devil goals against the Buckeyes. Katherine Remy had two assists and Christi Monroe had an assist.
"We're creating a lot of opportunities," Hempen said. "One of these days we're going to score nine or 10 goals in a game."
In the tournament's other two games, No. 1 ranked North Carolina rolled on, defeating Ohio State 6-1 and George Washington 2-0, giving the Atlantic Coast Conference a sweep of the Classic. The Tar Heels, who had their 94-game winning streak stopped last weekend when they tied Notre Dame 0-0, improved their record to 13-0-1.
George Washington and Ohio State, who were unable to pick up a victory this weekend, dropped to 8-4 and 6-8-2, respectively.
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