Duke Opens ACC Play with 13-4 Win Over Hokies

Saturday, March 5

Blacksburg, Va.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Opens ACC Play with 13-4 Win Over Hokies

3/5/2016 3:34:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

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By: Duke Sports Information

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Fifteenth-ranked Duke turned in a strong defensive performance and featured six different goal scorers to dispatch Virginia Tech, 13-4, in Saturday's ACC opener. Sophomores Kyra Harney and Maddie Crutchfield both registered hat tricks on the day and senior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea totaled 12 saves as the Blue Devils improved to 4-3 overall.

Harney finished with a career-high five goals to pace a Duke attack that outshot the Hokies by a 31-22 margin. The Blue Devils also had the edge at the draw, 14-5, behind six draw controls from freshman Olivia Jenner.

“For us to get our first ACC win on the road and play so solid at both ends of the field is great,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “It's a testament to how hard our kids have worked in this off-week to just continue to build our chemistry and, at both ends of the field, continue to work on the draw and our loose-ball game. I think all that work paid off today.”

Jenner took control of the draw early and senior midfielder Maddy Acton paced the squad to a quick start with a pair of markers. Duryea and the Blue Devil defense kept the Hokies empty-handed on each of their trips up the field while the attack extended the lead to 4-0 on goals by Harney and Crutchfield.

Duryea remained locked in through the remainder of the period, denying Virginia Tech four times. The defense totaled four first-half caused turnovers and Harney tacked on two more scores to secure her third hat trick of the season.

“Kelsey and our defense were great today,” Kimel said. “Virginia Tech has some really nice scorers and they can score in a couple of different ways. Virginia Tech had some long defensive sets and I thought our kids played really patiently. And Kelsey too was really patient. When they got around to taking a shot, I thought she did a good job of holding her position and tracking the ball well.”

The Hokies responded with back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of half, bringing the score to 6-2 at the break. Duke led 14-9 in shots after the first 30 minutes and held a 6-3 advantage at the draw. Both teams were perfect on clear attempts in the first half, with the Blue Devils going 10-for-10.

Crutchfield opened the second period with a goal from the eight-meter following a draw win by Jenner, and notched her third tally a short while later off a caused turnover by junior midfielder Stuart Humphrey. Duryea continued to put up a strong front and Duke kept the momentum going offensively with four more tallies, including two by Harney to give her four for the afternoon.

Virginia Tech broke through for consecutive goals late in the half before Harney tacked on her fifth on a Kelci Smesko assist to round out the contest.

Humphrey recorded a team-high two caused turnovers and senior defender Claire Scarrone led the defense with four ground balls.

“Our defense really did not give Virginia Tech any second-chance opportunities,” Kimel said. “We always had two people around the ball at all times, so I thought that was great. Our kids did a really good job of taking that to heart and making sure we were in a position to give us possession.”

Hannah Sieger made seven stops in goal for the Hokies, who were held to a season-low three tallies.

Duke returns to Durham to host a pair of contests next week, welcoming Georgetown Wednesday at 3 p.m. and Louisville Saturday at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed on Blue Devil Network Plus.

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