After a slow offensive start to the season, Duke poured in three first-half goals Sunday against the University of Alabam at Birmingham in the Blue Devils’ first home action of 2014.
Duke netted just two scores in its first three matches of the year, but needed less than 30 minutes of play to register three goals against the Blazers. Led by veteran Kelly Cobb and underclassmen Toni Payne and Imani Dorsey, the Blue Devils controlled the match from start to finish en route to an easy 3-1 victory.
“After not scoring any goals last weekend, we knew it was coming,” Duke head coach Robbie Church said. “We still have to work on it. We put up 31 shots and got three goals. We had some balls that we should have finished, but the kids played really hard.”
The Blue Devils started off the scoring flurry just six minutes into the match. Sophomore defender Christina Gibbons lofted a cross into the box for a quick chip by Cobb over the goalkeeper’s head and into the back of the net.
“Honestly, I can’t even remember it because it happened so fast,” Cobb said. “I just saw the ball go in the upper right hand corner and just felt a relief.”
Cobb earned Soccer America All-Freshmen First Team and All-ACC Second Team honors after registering 11 goals and 31 points, both school records for freshmen, in her first year in Durham. After injuries and a stint playing with the U-20 World Cup team in Japan limited her to 10 collegiate games as a sophomore, Cobb tallied just 17 points in 24 games as a junior. Cobb’s score against the Blazers was her first of the year, a good sign for the Blue Devils.
“She’s having her best year ever,” Church said. “She’s finally healthy and she’s just up and down the field. It was great to see her score a goal because as a forward you always judge yourself on goals and assists.... It was great to see her get that goal because she’s played really well.”
Complementing the veteran Cobb was the duo of Dorsey, a freshman, and Payne, a sophomore.
Less than five minutes after Cobb’s score, Duke went up 2-0 when Dorsey sent a cross into the box that found the foot of Payne for a finish from three yards out. Payne returned the favor to Dorsey in the 28th minute, feeding a pass to the freshman for her second goal of the season.
Payne and Dorsey combined for nine shots, including three shots on goal and the two scores, and spent most of the match harassing UAB defenders inside the 18-yard box. It was the second game in a row in which both Dorsey and Payne netted a goal.
“Toni and Imani are good, and [sophomore midfielder] Rebecca Quinn up there, these kids play a high level of soccer,” Church said. “You can see that. They look for each other and they play off each other. They do a lot of special stuff.”
Payne started in all but three of Duke’s matches a year ago and earned All-ACC Freshman Team honors after registering 11 points, including the game-winning goal against Miami. Dorsey, like Cobb and Payne before her, should see significant playing time at the forward position for the remainder of her freshman year after starting the season with a pair of goals and an assist.
“I love both the way Toni and Imani play. Both are very confident, they are willing to take players on one-vs-one,” Cobb said. “And they’re both very smart players as well. I think that’s a trait of being a Duke women’s soccer player, being both talented and smart on the field.”
The Blazers pulled within two in the 55th minute after sophomore Kimberly Fincher sent a cross in to freshman Rachel Green for an easy goal. But the early goals by Cobb, Dorsey and Payne proved too much to overcome as Duke cruised to the victory and evened its record at 2-2.
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