Blue Devils Bounce Hurricanes, 4-0

Thursday, October 15

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

5-5-4, 1-2-2ACC

Miami

7-7-0, 2-3-0ACC

Miami

Duke

Blue Devils Bounce Hurricanes, 4-0

10/15/2009 10:15:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- As the Duke women's soccer team was bringing a three-game homestand to a close on Thursday, the Blue Devils needed a win in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action and they sure got it with a 4-0 trouncing of Miami at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils received four goals from four different student-athletes and scored three first half goals on their way to registering their first league win of the season to improve to 5-5-4 overall and 1-2-2 in ACC play. Miami fell to 7-7-0, 2-3-0 with the loss.

"I am so proud of this team," said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. "I knew something like this was going to happen. I knew we were going to score goals. We have created more opportunities, but we haven't finished them. It was so important to get those early goals in the first half for our defense. I thought the defense was good today but I didn't think it was as good as it has been. Our offense really picked us up."

Duke came into the contest with a 310-minute scoring drought, but quickly ended that streak in the 19th minute as KayAnne Gummersall found senior Elisabeth Redmond in the offensive third and beat the Miami defense to the left corner of the box where she played a perfect ball into the upper right corner of the net. The goal was Redmond's third of the season and 26th of her career.

The first half goal was the first for the Blue Devils in the first stanza since Sept. 20 versus LSU. The tally opened the flood gates for Duke as the Blue Devils went ahead 2-0 in just a minute and 13 seconds later. Redmond sent a corner kick into the box where sophomore Cody Newman played a ball over to freshman Libby Jandl who blasted the first shot of her career between the Hurricane defense and into the goal.

Jandl, who is a product of Mission Hills, Kan., was making her second straight start in the backfield as Church changed Duke's formation in the last match against Florida State.

"It has been a very exciting [week] and it is exciting to help the team out," said Jandl. "I thought our team came out and played very well today."

Duke kept putting the pressure on Miami and at the 48:14 mark, Gummersall threw the ball into Redmond who then crossed it over the box to junior Marybeth Kreger. A native of, Noblesville, Ind., Kreger found herself wide open, settled the ball and hit the back left corner for her second goal of the season.

At the end of the first half, Duke held a 9-6 shot advantage. In goal for the Blue Devils, freshman Tara Campbell made one save over the first 45 minutes.

"The formation [change] has definitely helped but I think also the level of play by our players in that formation has really stepped up," said Church. "We are playing the best soccer of the year right now. It is exciting and it is an important time to do that. We will see what happens as we go forward."

Duke continued to control most of the match, but Miami had 10 second half shots trying to get on the board. The Blue Devils added a fourth goal in the 64th minute to move the score to 4-0. Redmond found a streaking Gummersall in the midfield who then beat the Miami defense and goalkeeper Vikki Alonzo for her team-best seventh goal of the year.

The breakout for the Duke offense was much needed after scoring only one goal the last four matches. The four goals was the second-most scored this season in a single game and the second half goal for the Blue Devils was only the seventh all year in the second stanza.

Redmond, who is from Morristown, N.J., registered three assists in the match to give her a team-high nine on the season and 31 on her career.

"She [Elisabeth Redmond] was really special tonight," said Church. "She was really, really special tonight."

Campbell played 77:15 minutes in goal and finished with six saves, as she totaled five second half saves before exciting. Sophomore Emily Nahas came in and played the final 12:45 and tallied two saves. Nahas was coming off a leg injury and played for the first time since Sept. 13 versus Alabama A&M. Alonza concluded the match with six saves for the Hurricanes.

"I think this is huge for is," said Redmond on the ACC victory. "In the ACC this is obviously our first win, but I think we played the toughest teams in the ACC in our first four games. Getting a win is huge for us. We have been working on our offense all week after coming off the Florida State game. It really obviously paid off. I think just for our confidence it is a huge win."

As a team, Duke outshot Miami, 21-16, for the match and held an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks. The Blue Devils will next hit the road for a match at Clemson on Sunday, Oct. 18 before returning home against Virginia on Oct. 22 at 7:00 p.m.

"It was a great effort by the girls and I am so happy for them because it has been a while since we have had a win," commented Church. "We keep coming back every game and now we have to move on to Clemson."

NOTES:

With her goal, senior KayAnne Gummersall now owns 30 career goals, which ranks fourth all-time at Duke. Senior Elisabeth Redmond's 26 goals ranks seventh all-time for the Blue Devils.
Redmond's 31 assists in four years is the second-most in school history and 11 away from the school record.
A total of nine different Blue Devils have now scored a goal this season.
Duke has now notched seven shutouts this season even though the Blue Devils are starting three freshmen defenders and a freshman goalkeeper.
The Blue Devils moved to 5-1-3 at home this season and 20-6-3 over the past three years at Koskinen Stadium.
The win for Duke was the first since Sept. 18 against Auburn in a 2-1 overtime victory. Over the previous five matches, four of those went into overtime.

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