Duke Eases Past Virginia Tech to Move to 7-0

Friday, March 6

Durham, N.C.

5:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Eases Past Virginia Tech to Move to 7-0

3/6/2015 8:12:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

Maurer

DURHAM, N.C. – Freshman Kyra Harney turned in the second hat trick of her career and registered a career-high three assists to help the fifth-ranked Blue Devils outlast Virginia Tech, 15-10, Friday evening in ACC action at Koskinen Stadium. Duke improved to 2-0 in conference play and 7-0 on the spring for the program's best start since 2006.

With the score knotted 6-6 at halftime, the Hokies took the lead early in the second period on a goal by Megan Will. Junior Maddy Acton countered with back-to-back scores and senior Taylor Trimble added a third on a pass from senior Katie Trees to swing it to 9-7 in Duke's favor.

Virginia Tech pulled within one goal two more times over the next few minutes, but saw the Blue Devils respond each time. Senior Erin Tenneson fired top shelf midway through the half to spark a 4-0 scoring run. Harney, senior Kerrin Maurer and Trimble also found the back of the net during that span to give Duke a 14-9 cushion with 10:41 remaining.

“A defense can't just lock in on one or two of our players,” Maurer said. “We're really balanced right now. The balanced scoring we've had throughout the year, people finishing the ball, I think that's crucial. Coming down the stretch in ACC games, that's going to continue to be very important for us.”

The Hokies' Will notched her fourth tally of the evening inside the final five minutes on a successful man-up opportunity for the visiting squad. However, Virginia Tech turned the ball over on its next offensive possession and senior Brigid Smith tacked on a final score on a feed from Harney to round out the game.

“In the second half, our girls were sharper,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “We did a better job on the draw. I also felt like we attacked more. The first half, we just were really off our rhythm. Halftime gave us that chance to collect ourselves, spread out a little bit more on offense, get the ball moving better on offense. Once we did that, we were able to create some better opportunities.”

A back-and-forth first 30 minutes saw the Blue Devils build a 3-0 lead before Meg Bartley, Will and Meghan Macera of the Hokies combined to make it a 5-4 advantage for the Hokies. A pair of freshmen tied the game again as Harney found Maddie Crutchfield for her second assist, and Trees followed with a score from the eight-meter before Virginia Tech's Jessi Thon also recorded a free position goal to bring it to 6-6 at the intermission.

Maurer and Bartley battled at the draw throughout the contest, with Bartley winning six draws to five by Maurer. Overall, the Duke won the category by a 16-11 margin and outshot the Hokies, 27-18. Ground balls were even at 14 apiece.

Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea made four of her five saves during the first half, while Meagh Graham had six stops in the net for Virginia Tech.

Maurer's two assists pushed her career total to 100, making her just the second player in program history to reach the milestone. Former Blue Devil player and assistant coach Kristen Waagbo is Duke's all-time leader in the category with 116 over her four seasons.

“Kerrin is a really special player in that she has tremendous game-sense, lax IQ, sees the field really well,” Kimel said. “The kids that she's playing with, she's played with for so long now that she has a really good sixth-sense of where everybody's going to be. When you throw someone like Kyra Harney in the mix, she has great hands and is very similar to Kerrin in a lot of ways. They have a great connection building already. It's neat that the senior-freshman connection happened on her 100th assist.”

Up next, the Blue Devils hit the road for a three-game stretch, beginning with a contest at Georgetown Wednesday, March 11 at 3 p.m.

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