Women's Soccer Scores Three Straight To Down Dayton, 3-1

Friday, September 12

Dayton, Ohio

7:30 p.m.

Duke University

Dayton

Women's Soccer Scores Three Straight To Down Dayton, 3-1

9/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

DAYTON, OHIO ? In the first road contest of the 2008 campaign, the ninth-ranked Duke women's soccer team scored three unanswered second half goals to down Dayton, 3-1, on Friday evening in Dayton, Ohio.

With the victory, Duke improved to 5-1 on the season, while Dayton fell to 4-2. The Blue Devils will next travel to Ohio State on Sunday, Sept. 14 for a 1:00 p.m., match that will be aired live on the Big 10 Network.

Both teams kicked off the match on the attack as Dayton took the first two shots of the contest before Lorraine Quinn and KayAnne Gummersall posted two out of the next three attempts for the Blue Devils. Gummersall, who is a junior from Wilmette, Ill., had her shot blocked by the Flyers' defense.

Each squad registered two more shots before Dayton got on the board with a header from Mandy Back off assists from Kelly Blumenschein and Colleen Gibson in the 38th minute.

Dayton held a 6-5 shot advantage in the first half as Blue Devil goalkeeper Cassidy Powers notched three saves. The goal allowed by the Blue Devils in the first half was the first of the year over the first 45 minutes of a match.

“Overall in the first half, we didn't play as well as well as we have played in the past,” said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. “I think you have to give Dayton credit there because they were really hyped for this game -- with a ranked team on their home field. They took us out of our rhythm of play and we didn't do a lot of moving off the ball.”

The Flyers began the second half the same way as the first as they registered two shots over the first five minutes. In the 51st minute, Duke began to take control of the match as Gummersall and senior Kelly Hathorn each had excellent scoring opportunities but couldn't get it past the line.

“Cassidy made two big saves early in the second half that kept the score 1-0,” said Church. “I am not quite sure we would have come back from being down two goals. She got those saves and we gained momentum from those saves -- it was like an offensive team scoring goals.”

Finally in the 57th minute, Elisabeth Redmond evened the match as she corralled a corner kick, took a shot from the top of the box and hit the upper, right corner of the net for her team-best sixth goal of the season.

Gummersall added another shot attempt before junior Jane Alukonis sent a corner kick to junior Marybeth Kreger, who headed in her second career goal in the 59th minute. Duke held a 2-1 lead with two goals in less than two minutes.

The Blue Devils continued to add to the lead as a little more than two minutes later Gummersall found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the year off an assist from Kreger at the 61:41 mark.

Kreger, who is a native of Noblesville, Ind., was playing in front of her family and friends as her home is only two hours away from Dayton. She notched her first career game-winning goal to go along with an assist in 90 minutes.

“In the second half, we started to have much more movement off the ball,” said Church. “Instead in the first half we tried to play everything direct and we tried to play from our backs to our forwards. In the second half, we found our midfielders a lot more. You could feel the momentum start to change early in the second half. We started to put pressure on them.”

The Blue Devils scored all three goals in a span of three minutes and 52 seconds. Duke concluded the match with a 15-12 lead in shots, including a 10-6 advantage in the second half.

“I am really happy for the girls as after we got the first goal, they knew we had them on the ropes,” said Church. “We went on to get the second and third goals and that took a lot of their fighting spirit away from them.”

Powers, a senior from San Ramon, Calif., finished with six saves in 90 minutes in goal for Duke. She notched her fifth win of the season in six matches, after entering the year with only five career appearances in goal.

Duke Notes:

? Duke had outscored its opponents 9-0 over the first five matches in the first half prior to the Dayton contest.

? The Blue Devils will play their first of two televised games this season on Sunday against Ohio State. The match will be aired by the Big 10 Network. Duke will host North Carolina on Oct. 2 in a contest which will be aired by the Fox Soccer Channel.

? Duke will return home following the Ohio State match to host the annual Duke/adidas Classic on Friday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 21. North Carolina and Georgia will open play at 5:00 p.m., on Friday followed by Duke versus Fordham.

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