If defense wins championships, the Blue Devils may yet make noise in the final third of the season.
Duke (5-5-4, 1-2-2 in the ACC), led by a stellar young back line and a rejuvenated offense, won its first ACC contest Thursday night with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Miami (7-7-0, 2-3-0).
A steady mist during the first half created slick pitch conditions, but the Blue Devils never missed a step against a strong Miami squad. The Hurricanes were never able to sustain possession against a ravenous Duke defense, allowing the Blue Devils to push the ball forward and create scoring opportunities.
Duke had gone nearly a month without scoring a goal, but needed only 20 minutes against Miami to take the lead. A series of clinical passes from sophomore Cody Newman and senior KayAnne Gummersall left Elisabeth Redmond streaking down the left wing. Redmond, with a defender on her back, sent a curling ball over Miami goalkeeper Vikki Alonso and into the upper right-hand corner of the goal.
With an early breakthrough, something head coach Robbie Church had stressed going into the game, the pressure was off of the Blue Devils, and the goals kept coming. Just a minute later, freshman defender Libby Jandl scored her first career goal off a Duke corner kick, blazing a ball through the legs of the Miami defense after a scramble in the penalty area.
“It was so important to score those early goals. It changes the game, and our offense really picked it up tonight,” Church said.
The Blue Devils would stay hot in the second half, stringing passes together to keep the ball in the offensive third.
“We’ve been working on our offense all week after the Florida State game, and it really paid off,” said Redmond, who tallied three assists to go along with her opening goal.
Junior Marybeth Kreger and Gummersall also scored for the Blue Devils, capping off a signature win.
The Duke defense pitched its seventh shutout of the season against the Hurricanes, and its third against ACC opponents.
“Defense was the area we were most focused on at the start of the year, and they’ve stepped up so much, especially the freshmen,” Redmond said.
With the switch to a 4-4-2 formation, Duke now starts a total of five freshman: Nicole Lipp, Maddy Haller, Erin Koballa, Tara Campbell and Jandl. However, what the Blue Devils lack in experience, they make up for with sheer hustle.
Winning 50-50 balls and sustaining possession in the midfield fuels the Duke attack, and with the defense firing on all cylinders, the Blue Devils look to continue scoring goals.
“If we keep the pressure up defensively, it allows our midfielders to connect passes together, and it gives us chances to score,” Church said.
The Blue Devils travel south this weekend to face the struggling Clemson Tigers (4-11-0, 0-6-0), losers of six straight conference games. Though the Tigers currently sit at the bottom of the league standings, Church knows every game on the ACC schedule is important.
“We’re going to keep on working, and we’re going to be ready for Clemson,” Church said.
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