The only thing that could have possibly helped the Flying Dutchwomen of Hofstra yesterday afternoon would have been the Flying Dutchman himself. Unfortunately for Hofstra, Rik Smits did not show, as the Duke women's lacrosse team dominated the visitors from New York for a 14-3 victory at the Duke Lacrosse Stadium.
Junior Tricia Martin scored the first of her four goals 4:31 into the first half, giving the seventh-ranked Blue Devils (1-0) a 2-0 lead which they would never relinquish.
"I think the score alone says a lot about this game, but we felt like we could have done some things better," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We definitely have lots of little things to work on going into the weekend."
Duke scored three straight goals over an 8:45 stretch in the opening half to extend its lead to 5-1. The Dutchwomen (0-1) pulled within 5-2 at the half, but that was as close as they would get.
"You have to give Hofstra some credit," Kimel said. "They were really feisty and tough out there. The second half, though, was definitely better. We did a better job controlling the ball and were more patient on offense, recognizing the openings we had."
The Blue Devil offense was running on all cylinders in the second half, outscoring Hofstra 9-1 in the last 30 minutes.
Duke's motion offense fatigued the Hofstra defenders, and the Blue Devils took full advantage. Sophomore Kate Soulier dished out back-to-back assists to sophomore Kristin Seith and Martin to extend Duke's lead to 9-3.
"One of our greatest strengths is that we can rotate a lot of players in," Kimel said. "We have a lot of speed and energy coming off the bench, so in the second half we really just wore them down."
Duke's lead reached double figures with 1:50 to play, as Soulier found the corner of the net on a shot while spinning and falling down.
The Blue Devils displayed offensive ball control and staunch defense throughout the match, as they outshot their opponent 35-13.
While Duke's aggressive defense limited Hofstra's shots on goal, it also earned them 24 fouls. These fouls often led directly to easy opportunities for Hofstra to score.
The Blue Devils, however, received strong performances in goal from junior Shannon Chaney and freshman Kristen Foster. Chaney made three saves in the first half, and Foster controlled the second, allowing only one goal while recording seven saves.
"I thought our goalies and our defense really did a great job," Kimel said. "We worked on a lot of aspects of our defense yesterday. There are still some improvements to be made, but it's early in the season."
Overall, eight Blue Devils scored in the contest, including two goals apiece by sophomores Courtney Rodgers and Soulier and freshman Kate Kaiser. Along with her four goals, Martin led Duke with three assists.
"This was our first game," Kimel said. "Our team is going to do a lot of growing this season. We are just going to get better and better."
Duke will have the opportunity to take a big step forward Friday night, as it travels to College Park to take on No. 1 Maryland at 7 p.m.
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