Duke started out its ACC schedule on the right foot Thursday night.
The Blue Devils had played their previous three games without a win, but they throttled Virginia Tech on the road, 3-1, in Blacksburg, Va.
"We did well tonight," head coach Robbie Church said. "Anytime you can go into the ACC and win on the road, it's a good night."
After scoring just one goal in last weekend's pair of games at home, Duke (5-3-1, 1-0 in the ACC) came out hungry against the Hokies (4-3-1, 0-1). Just seven minutes into the match, senior Sarah McCabe quickly found the net on a half-volley when senior Darby Kroyer's shot deflected off the crossbar to McCabe on the right side of the field.
"It was really nice getting the early goal," Kroyer said. "After stressing all week to stay focused for the entire match, it was good we didn't let down tonight even after we scored the third goal in the second half."
Duke's second goal was also a follow-up on a previous shot. In the 35th minute, freshman Elisabeth Redmond connected from just outside the six-yard box on the rebound of freshman CJ Ludemann's shot that was blocked by the Hokie goalkeeper.
Although Church said the Blue Devils struggled defensively at times, he praised his team's focus on the field. After troubles putting the ball in the net in last weekend's Duke/adidas Classic, Church said Duke showed improvement against Virginia Tech.
"We got more consistent for a full 90 minutes tonight-our letdown was smaller," Church said. "There has to be a letdown in every game, but tonight we were more consistent over a longer period of time.... There was a full 20-minute spurt in the beginning of the second half when we played the best we've played all season."
The Blue Devils' final goal of the game came in those 20 minutes. With 68:35 on the clock, freshman KayAnne Gummersall received a ball from Lorraine Quinn, then beat a defender and found the net from the top of the 18-yard box, making the score 3-0.
"We have been getting unlucky during the last few matches," Kroyer said. "To get the win on the road to start ACC play and to score three goals gives us a confidence boost. All three goals we scored tonight were hard-working goals."
The Hokies came back to score just four minutes later when Julian Johnson sent a throw-in far into the Duke box and Laurie Beth Puglisi headed the ball into the back of the net. But the Blue Devils halted the Hokies there, preventing them from any further scoring.
With their first ACC win under their belt, the Blue Devils hope to maintain their focus during games and continue with wins in their competitive conference-four teams in the ACC are currently ranked in the top 25 nationally.
"We're in the top of the league here," Church said. "But we know we've got a major task ahead of us in Virginia."
Duke will travel to Charlottesville, Va. Sunday to take on No. 21 Virginia in its second ACC matchup of the season.
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