Four Blue Devils Record Hat Tricks As Duke Washes Away William & Mary

Sunday, February 25

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

William & Mary

Four Blue Devils Record Hat Tricks As Duke Washes Away William & Mary

2/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Sophomore midfielder Carolyn Davis, junior attacker Caroline Cryer, and senior attackers Leigh Jester and Kristen Waagbo each scored three goals and one assist to lead the No. 2 Blue Devils (4-0) to a 15-3 victory over William & Mary (0-1) on Sunday. Despite steady rain and temperatures in the 40's, Duke's offense was able to find their groove after a difficult game against No. 13 Richmond on Friday night. Even more impressive was the Blue Devil defense, which shut out the Tribe for the first 36 minutes of the game.

Unlike Friday night's game, Duke took control early and never looked back. The Blue Devils took a 7-0 lead in to halftime and were up 9-0 by the time William & Mary was able to score. Waagbo and Cryer scored two goals a piece in the first half and Duke's defense suffocated the Tribe throughout the contest. Sophomore goalkeeper Kim Imbesi made four saves in the first half on her way to only allowing two goals in 47 minutes of play.

The second half was less lopsided, although the Blue Devils still outscored William & Mary, 8-3. The Tribe were never able to score back-to-back goals or get any type of momentum. Davis and Jester both tallied two goals each in the second half to pad the Blue Devils' lead. Junior goalie Regan Bosch saw her first action of the season, playing the last 13 minutes of the game and recording two saves.

The win gave Duke its fourth straight year with a 4-0 start. It was also the Blue Devils eighth consecutive win over the Tribe, after dropping their first three contests to them from 1996-1998. The game was the first of the 2007 season for William& Mary.

Cryer now has 16 goals in only four games for the Blue Devils. She is more than halfway to her 2006 total of 30 goals in less than one-quarter of this season.

Sanford, Waagbo and Jester piled up the preseason awards this month. All three were named to the Tewaaraton Award watch list, which is the award given to the most outstanding collegiate female lacrosse player each year. Sanford, Waagbo and Jester were also named to Inside Lacrosse's Division I preseason All-America list. Waagbo and Jester were first team preseason All-America selections while Sanford made the second team. Inside Lacrosse pegged Waagbo as one of its preseason “fab five” for the Nike Tewaaraton Tracker.

William & Mary Head Coach Christine Halfpenny and Assistant Coach Megan Huether returned to Duke for the first time since the 2006 season on Sunday. Halfpenny was an assistant coach for three years with the Blue Devils, and Duke went 48-13 while she was on the staff. Huether, a 2006 Duke graduate, was a four-year starter as a goalie. She holds Duke records for games started and played (79), saves (646) and goalie minutes (4505). Huether is also third all-time in save percentage (.528) and won the 2005 IWLCA Goalie of the Year award.

The Blue Devils next game will be on Saturday, March 3, when they travel to College Park, Md., to take on the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins. It will be the first ACC game of the season for the Blue Devils, with face-off is set for 12 p.m. Maryland is currently 2-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.