Seniors Key Duke to 4-1 Win Over No. 13 Hokies

Sunday, October 25

Durham, N.C.

3:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Seniors Key Duke to 4-1 Win Over No. 13 Hokies

10/25/2009 6:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

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DURHAM, N.C. - Sunday was already a special day on the campus of Duke University as four Blue Devil seniors -- Jane Alukonis, KayAnne Gummersall, Sara Murphy and Elisabeth Redmond -- were recognized prior to the contest against No. 13 Virginia Tech, but it got even more special once the match started as Duke netted its biggest win of the season with a 4-1 victory over the Hokies at Koskinen Stadium.

"This is obviously a huge win," said Gummersall. "Virginia Tech is a great program. It was a huge display of heart tonight, I'm so proud of my teammates. I think we just had a solid performance tonight and I couldn't feel any better."

Heading into Sunday's match, Duke was needing a signature victory for the season and the Blue Devils were very impressive as they dominated the action and scored four unanswered goals on the way to improve to 7-6-4 overall and 3-3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Blue Devils remained in seventh place in the ACC with 11 points with two regular season contests to play.

"It's unbelievable," said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church on the victory. "I am just thrilled with this team and group of seniors -- all the stuff that they have done in four years. This is something we desperately needed tonight. It is a quality win and they led us to this win. I'm just thrilled with this group."

Virginia Tech got on the board first in the match after a turnover in the midfield by the Blue Devils led to a corner kick. Stephanie Hylton sent a short pass off the corner kick outside the box to Kelsey Mitchell who fired in a long cross at the Duke goal. Blue Devil freshman goalkeeper Tara Campbell stepped in, then back and couldn't hold onto the ball. It dropped in front of the goal line and Brittany Michels tapped in her first goal of the season.

Duke didn't drop its heads, but instead came back with a goal of its own as Redmond found Cody Newman, who then sent a perfect pass to Gummersall. A product of Wilmette, Ill., Gummersall took the ball at the top of the box and used her left foot to one-time her ninth goal of the season into the right side of the netting from 12 yards out at the 26:13 mark.

Less than four minutes later, the Blue Devils took their first lead of the match as Redmond and Gummersall connected on yet another goal over their Duke career. Sophomore Chelsea Canepa started the play off by driving the ball up the right side before sending it to Redmond. A native of Morristown, N.J., Redmond blasted a shot that was blocked, but got her rebound and passed it to Gummersall. The 5-8 forward took one touch, chipped a ball towards the goal that went into the back of the net off a Hokie defender who was trying to make a save.

"They [KayAnne and Elisabeth] just play off each other well and know where they are going to be," said Church. "When they come together, they are really special and are two of the best players we have ever had. It has been an unbelievable privilege to coach these young ladies."

The Blue Devils headed into halftime with a 2-1 advantage and dominated the offensive action leading the shots by a 9-3 margin.

Duke came out in the second half and continued to pressure the Hokies, who have three victories against ranked opponents this season. The Blue Devils were on the attack in the 59th minute as Newman was fouled by Kylie Stankovis in the box, which gave Duke its first penalty kick attempt of the season. Senior Alukonis stepped up and hit the left corner for her first goal of the season.

The Blue Devils made the score 4-1 in the 84th minute as Gummersall posted her first career hat trick. Alukonis and Newman found Gummersall running towards the box in front of the box and Gummersall was able to make a great move around a Hokie defender before chipping in her 11th goal of the season from five yards out.

For her career, Gummersall now owns 34 career goals, which is one shy of fourth all-time on the Blue Devil record charts. Her 79 career points is fifth all-time, while her 11 goals this season is the ninth-best single-season performance at Duke.

"Scoring three goals is great but I couldn't have done it without any of them," commented Gummersall. "It starts out in the back and I happen to be one of the ones up top. It's definitely exciting and this what we have been working for all week and all season. It feels great."

Campbell, who is from Cincinnati, Ohio, played another stellar game in goal for the Blue Devils as she played the entire 90 minutes and posted two saves. As a team, Duke outshot Virginia Tech, 20-9. Over the last four matches, Duke has scored 10 goals.

Continuing to move up the Duke record charts is Redmond, who now owns 87 points and 35 assists. Her 87 points is one shy of third place on the Blue Devil career list and her 35 assists is second all-time.

"It is huge, it meant a lot to me," commented Redmond on the win. "I know the other seniors and players on the team worked really hard. It meant a lot how much they cared -- it was great."

All four seniors were recognized prior to the contest and all three who played notched four goals and two assists in the match. Murphy has missed the last two years with an injury.

"Yeah that was just really special," said Redmond on connecting with Gummersall yet again for a goal. "It has been four years of playing together. She had an incredible game and I just have so much respect for her and I am so proud of her."

Duke will next travel to sixth-ranked Boston College on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7:00 p.m.

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