Duke Advances With 19-6 Romp Over Virginia Tech

Thursday, April 24

Charlottesville, Va.

1:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Advances With 19-6 Romp Over Virginia Tech

4/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- No. 11 Duke (10-6) showed up for the ACC Tournament in a big way on Thursday afternoon, securing a 19-6 win over Virginia Tech in the first round at Scott Stadium. The Blue Devils were paced by four goals from junior attacker Carolyn Davis and saw all 28 available players earn time on the field. The 19 goals scored tied the second-most ever scored in an ACC Tournament contest.

“It was great for our team to get everyone playing,” said Davis. “We haven't been able to do that as much this season as we would have liked to. Being able to get everybody out there, especially in an ACC Tournament game, is a great experience. It's a lot of fun to watch the freshmen and younger players contributing and showing what they've got.”

Just like Duke's April 14 match with Virginia Tech, a slew of Blue Devils found the back of the net. The first go-around with the Hokies had nine Duke players scoring goals, and this time that number was upped to 10. Helping out Davis were freshman attacker Christie Kaestner with one goal and three assists and midfielders Allie Johnson and Emma Hamm with three goals and one assist each. For the ninth game out of 16 this season (and second consecutive contest), Davis scored the first Duke goal to get the offense rolling.

“I think that as an older player I feel more comfortable and confident pushing it from the beginning, and as we go along the younger players pick up on that and can take over more,” said Davis. “As an older member on a young team, I just try to lead and help the younger players gain confidence.”

Similarly repetitive to the two teams' matchup earlier this month was Duke finding itself in an early hole in the game. On April 14 it was a 3-0 deficit in Blacksburg, while Thursday saw the Devils down 4-2 with 20:44 remaining in the first half. A 13-goal run spanning 46:38 put any doubt of who was in charge to rest.

Duke dominated in every facet of the game, including draw controls, which have been a tough spot for the Blue Devils this season. Duke won the draw, 15-12, pushing its record to 6-0 when they win the draw and 4-6 when the draw is tied or lost. Davis led the Devils in draw controls with three, and freshman midfielder Christie Klauberg made her collegiate debut late in the game and won two draws.

Minus a stretch of less than two minutes early in the game, the Duke defense was stifling, allowing the Hokies nothing except a pair of goals late in the game when the question of the outcome was not in doubt. Duke improved to 6-0 when holding opponents to 10 goals or less this season.

The defensive effort was spearheaded by sophomore midfielder Lindsay Gilbride, who scooped up five ground balls and caused four turnovers on the day. Johnson also did her part with three ground balls, and junior Kim Imbesi and freshman Cassi Carley combined for six saves to stop Virginia Tech.

The Hokies got two goals each from senior attacker Jenna Reich and junior midfielder Rachel Culp, but could find little else to hang their hats on. Virginia Tech completes its season at 4-14 and 0-5 in the ACC.

Duke has never lost to Virginia Tech, and now holds an 11-0 record against the Hokies. On April 14 of this season, Duke went to Blacksburg, Va., and came away with an 18-11 victory over Tech. The Hokies are 0-8 versus ranked opposition in 2008 and have yet to win an ACC game in four years in the conference.

Duke will face No. 2 seed Virginia on Friday at 3:00 p.m., in Scott Stadium in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. That match will be shown live and on-demand on www.ACCSelect.com. The championship game will be played on Sunday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m., and televised on TSN-TV.

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