The Blue Devils used seven unanswered goals in the first half to cruise past Virginia Tech 18-8 Wednesday at Koskinen Stadium and earn head coach Kerstin Kimel her 200th career victory.
Led by Christie Kaestner’s seven points, No. 5 Duke (7-1, 1-1 in the ACC) dominated both sides of the ball for its fourth consecutive victory in what Kimel called one of the Blue Devils best performances of the season.
“I’m really proud of our girls,” said Kimel, now just the 10th coach in Division I history to win 200 games. “I think it’s the closest full game we’ve put together from one end to the other.”
The Hokies (6-3, 1-1) drew first blood just a minute into the game with a goal from Jessica Nonn, but within the next 41 seconds, the Blue Devils had regained the lead with goals from Amanda Jones and Emma Hamm and never looked back.
A 7-0 run shortly after put to rest any doubt of the outcome, as Duke controlled possession and dictated the pace of the game. Junior Kat Thomas scored three goals during the decisive stretch, and the Blue Devils appeared to score with ease during the first half.
“I think we did a really good job working together as a team,” said Thomas, who finished with a team-leading four goals. “Our attack was great and there were lots of feeds, which is always fun to see. Lots of people were scoring, so we’re very excited about that.”
Eleven different Blue Devils got on the score sheet, as Jones finished with three goals while Hamm added five points. Overall, Duke outshot the Hokies 38-to-20, an advantage Kimel attributed to the Blue Devils’ ability to control possession.
“I think our ability to win the draw is huge because that’s a possession, and we want to be able to maximize that,” Kimel said. “We have the ability to control games more than we were doing, and this tonight is a really great step in that direction.”
As a result of their extensive time on the ball, the Blue Devils never allowed Virginia Tech to find a rhythm on offense. After jumping out to a 13-5 lead at halftime, the Duke defense held the Hokies scoreless for over 25 minutes in the second half and completely shut down the reigning ACC offensive player of the week, Allie Emala. Emala, the Hokies’ leading scorer, didn’t find the back of the net until the final minute of the game.
“I thought we made great stops defensively,” Kimel said. “We wanted to feel like we controlled the game, and I think we did that in great fashion.”
Goalie Mollie Mackler followed up her career-best day against Georgetown last week with another solid performance, allowing only five goals on 12 shots.
Maintaining that level of play defensively will be crucial, according to Kimel.
“One of our major goals as a team this year is to be consistent because consistency breeds confidence,” she said. “That’s a huge point of emphasis for us this year, and I’m hopeful we can turn around and do it again.”
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