Blue Devils Down Cal, 5-1, in Season Opener

Friday, August 28

Stanford, Calif.

3:00 PM

Duke University

California

Blue Devils Down Cal, 5-1, in Season Opener

8/28/2015 6:49:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

STANFORD, Calif. – Sophomore forward Ashley Kristen notched the first hat trick of her career while guiding fifth-ranked Duke to a 5-1 victory over California in the 2015 opener Friday afternoon. The Blue Devils won their season-opening contest for the third consecutive year and fourth time under the direction of head coach Pam Bustin.

Kristen also added two assists in the neutral site win for a career-best eight points, marking the most by a Blue Devil since Amie Survilla turned in an eight-point performance against New Hampshire Sept. 27, 2009.

Junior forward Heather Morris contributed a goal and an assist for three points on the afternoon.

“We really played well, especially the first half,” Bustin said. “We put a lot of pressure on the Cal defense and we were able to sustain a good attack above the 50. Their goalkeeper made some great saves. We could have been a little bit more diligent in finishing, but we came away with the three goals in the first half.”

Duke began the offensive barrage early, totaling 15 shots in the first period. The team drew its first penalty corner opportunity in the fourth minute and got on the board at the 18:14 mark when Kristen sent a rebound shot past California keeper Kori Griswold. The Blue Devils continued to press forward and capitalized again before the end of the half, as Kristen found junior Hunter Bracale for a strike into the back left side of the cage.

The squad's defensive effort kept the Golden Bears without a shot in the first period.

Duke picked up right where it left off in the second half, forcing Griswold to make a pair of saves before Kristen tallied her second goal of the day on a feed from Morris. California was able to respond in the 47th minute as Nicole Henriksson converted on a penalty corner, cutting the score to 3-1.

The Blue Devils locked down on defense following the Golden Bears' goal, allowing just three shots by their opponents the rest of the way. California left the cage empty for just over two minutes at the end of the contest, and Kristen took advantage by forcing a turnover and scoring to complete the hat trick. Morris added a tally on a Kristen assist with 33 seconds remaining to round out the Duke victory.

“Ashley was a great spark up on the forward line,” Bustin said. “She put a lot of defensive pressure on and did a great job leading ahead and away to stretch our attack. She's been working on pulling the trigger and she sure did that today, so I was really happy for her.”

For the contest, the Blue Devils outshot the Golden Bears by a 24-6 margin and led in penalty corners, 8-4. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lauren Blazing posted two saves in the win while California's Griswold had nine on the other end.

Duke remains on the West Coast through the weekend, facing No. 6 Stanford Sunday at 5 p.m. ET at the Cardinal's Varsity Field Hockey Turf. The contest will be streamed live on the Pac-12 Networks.

#GoDuke