Duke Downs UNC Wilmington, 3-1, In Exhibition Action

Wednesday, August 22

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

UNC-Wilmington

Duke Downs UNC Wilmington, 3-1, In Exhibition Action

8/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.? After training for seven days, the 22nd-ranked Duke Women's Soccer team battled UNC Wilmington on Wednesday evening in the first of two exhibition contests at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils scored three straight goals to open the match and concluded with a 3-1 victory over the Seahawks.

“I thought for the most part, we had some nice moments,” said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. “We possessed the ball pretty well and had some good combinations. It is early season and there was some very inconsistent play at times. It was great to put three goals on the board. We didn't create a lot of chances as we scored three goals off the eight shots we had. I will take that any day.”

Duke got the scoring started early as junior Kelly Hathorn found freshman Gretchen Miller, who then fired a rocket towards the left corner of the box. Freshman Marybeth Kreger was then able to hit the back right of the net for a 1-0 lead just 11 minutes into the match.

At the end of the first 30-minute period, Duke held a 2-1 shot advantage.

Freshman Rebecca Allen, who is from Jenks, Okla., started the second period and got on the board quickly from assists by fellow freshmen Carey Goodman and Madeline McEwen in the 37th minute. This gave the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead, which stood until the final period.

Duke controlled most of the match and added its final goal in the 73rd minute as sophomore Elisabeth Redmond rocketed a shot from 17 yards out that hit the left post and went into the goal. Allen and sophomore CJ Ludemann assisted on the goal, which put the Blue Devils ahead, 3-0.

Less than two minutes later, UNC Wilmington's Heather Froehlich sent a ball down the middle of the field where Jenna Evans scooped it up and beat the Duke defense and goalkeeper Cassidy Powers for a Seahawk goal.

For the game, Duke senior Allison Lipsher started and played 43 minutes. Lipsher, a native of Honolulu, Hawaii, picked up one save as she heads into her final year only eight shutouts away from tying the Blue Devil career record. Powers, a junior from San Ramon, Calif., came off the bench and played 46 minutes allowing one goal and registering three saves.

In goal for the Seahawks, Jamie Balzarini started the match and played 47 minutes, allowing two goals. Christine York and Emily Pratt came off the bench to see action in goal playing 23 and 19 minutes, respectively.

Duke outshot UNC Wilmington, 8-7, for the match, while the Seahawks had a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.

“We are very excited and had a good preseason,” said Church. “You can see some of the preseason practice coming in and then you could see some jitters tonight, especially with our younger players. We had some really good balls, but we just didn't execute it. I love the potential of this team and I think this team can be really good. They have been very coach able and have worked hard during the preseason. It was a good start.”

Last season, the two squads battled through a 0-0 tie in an exhibition contest in Wilmington, N.C. The contest was the final for Church against his daughter, Ashley, who is a senior on the Seahawk squad.

The Blue Devils will host UNC Greensboro on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., in their final exhibition contest of the preseason. Duke will then open the season in San Diego, Calif., at the adidas WCC/ACC Challenge on Aug. 31 against Pepperdine at 8:30 p.m. (EST).

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