Offense Stays Hot as Duke Blanks LSU, 6-0

Sunday, September 8

Durham, N.C.

1:30 PM

Duke University

4-1-1, 0-0-0

LSU

2-3-1, 0-0-0

LSU

Duke

Ella Stevens drives the ball down the field between LSU defenders

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Offense Stays Hot as Duke Blanks LSU, 6-0

9/8/2019 5:31:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Boxscore

DURHAM, N.C. – It was an offensive affair at Koskinen Stadium, as the 12^th-ranked Duke Blue Devils (4-1-1) used five first-half goals to power to a 6-0 victory over LSU (2-3-1) Sunday afternoon to conclude the 2019 Duke Nike Classic.

"I thought we came out and played really well early," said head coach Robbie Church. "It was important we got the first goal and then it was really important that we got the second goal. At that point, everybody relaxed a little bit. I thought everybody played well. We scored nine goals and we didn't give up any on the weekend, so I think we had a fantastic weekend. We're getting better."

Five different Blue Devils tallied goals, while nine recorded at least one point in Duke's largest victory since a 7-0 blanking of Oklahoma State on Nov. 17, 2017 in the NCAA Round of 16. The offensive effort was highlighted by senior Ella Stevens, who tied her career-high in both points and goals, with two goals and one assist as she netted the brace.

After a quiet first 15 minutes of play, junior Tess Boade put Duke into the scoring column with her first goal of the 2019 campaign. Boade took a ball from sophomore Mackenzie Pluck on the left side of the box and snuck it past the LSU goalkeeper to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.

Duke answered back less than two minutes later as Stevens joined in on the scoring action to make it a 2-0 contest. The senior worked the final third of the right side of the pitch before firing a shot off her right foot that curved over the keeper's outstretched hands into the upper 90 of the goalpost.

The third goal of the afternoon came from sophomore Marykate McGuire, who extended her scoring streak to a team-long three games. After Stevens attempted a shot that ricocheted off the right goal post, McGuire tapped in the rebound to push the Blue Devil lead to 3-0 in the 26^th minute of action.

Stevens took advantage of a corner kick to register her second score of the afternoon in the 30^th minute, marking her first multi-goal game since she scored two goals against Syracuse on Oct. 2, 2016. The Grayson, Ga., native curved a ball to backend of the post between multiple defenders from the left corner.

Four minutes later, junior Remi Swartz got on the board with her first career goal to widen the gap. The junior defender completed a beautiful sequence from the freshmen duo of Emmy Duerr and Julia Hannon, sending the ball to the back of the net with one touch in the box to push the advantage to 5-0 heading into halftime.

The sixth and final score of the match came from junior Taylor Mitchell, who also netted her first career goal. Mitchell connected on a cross from sophomore Delaney Graham with a header to the right side of the goal to make it a 6-0 contest, the eventual final.

The Duke defense provided yet another strong effort, recording its second consecutive shutout, and fourth overall on the season. The Blue Devils held the Tigers shotless, and limited LSU to zero corner kicks. The duo of redshirt junior Brooke Heinsohn and freshman Ruthie Jones combined for the effort, as Heinsohn picked up her fourth win of the campaign to move to 4-1-1.

Overall, Duke registered a season-high 24 shots, including 13 on goal, while recording 11 corner opportunities.

The Blue Devils will take the upcoming week off before returning to action next Sunday to continue its home stretch. Duke hosts James Madison next Sunday, Sept. 15, at Koskinen Stadium for a 6 p.m. matchup. Fans can catch all the action on ACC Network Extra.

For more information on Duke women's soccer, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "DukeWSoc". You can also find all-access coverage of all Duke athletic programs on SnapChat by searching for "dukeathletics".

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