After Duke's 9-7 win over No. 5 Maryland Feb. 25, head coach Kerstin Kimel was not happy with the Blue Devils' mental preparedness for that game, something she stressed this past week in practice.
Her team got the message.
Just over a minute into Saturday's game against Duquesne, sophomore Rachel Sanford fired a pass through the center of the Duquesne defense to junior Leigh Jester, who quickly shot from the left side of the net for an easy goal. The seemingly effortless score was Duke's third goal in the first 96 seconds.
The Blue Devils (4-0) effectively ended the game in the first nine minutes by opening a 6-0 lead, before cruising to a 19-8 victory over Duquesne (2-2).
"We came out really ready to play today," Kimel said. "There are areas in our game that we've really got to work on in the next couple days before we play Carolina, but this was a much better effort today than it was last week."
Duquesne broke the Blue Devil run with Krista Mann's goal less than 10 minutes into the game, but Duke exploded again with eight straight goals over the next 19 minutes. The Blue Devils dominated possession throughout the first half and outshot Duquesne 27-7 in the period.
Senior Katie Chrest and junior Kristen Waagbo led the attack, combining for eight goals and five assists. The two played off each other well, as Waagbo assisted on two of Chrest's five goals and Chrest found Waagbo with both of her assists.
"They definitely have an idea of where to find each other on the field-they had it last year, but they even have it more so this year," Kimel said. "They played aggressively, but they let the game come to them and that made a difference not just in their own play, but in the overall play of the offensive unit."
The 14-2 halftime margin allowed Kimel to play many of her younger players in the second half. Every Blue Devil has seen action this season, and Saturday eight different players scored and nine caused a turnover. Kimel said the larger rotation has sometimes resulted in sloppier play, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the costs.
"It gives us depth over the course of the season," Kimel said. "We know if we want to have that depth available, we have got to play younger players now. And how they develop in the coming weeks is going to determine how much depth we are really going to have."
With less than eight minutes remaining and the game well out of reach. Duke's second-team defense had given up three goals in a row, and Chrest, an attacker who was named National Player of the Year last season, came back into the game as a defender.
"She asked to go back in because she felt like the defense needed a little more direction back there-which they did. And she felt-which she does-she needed more practice on defense," Kimel said. "Anytime a kid who is a prolific scorer wants to go back in and do something completely different, I'm all for it."
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