Blue Devils Cruise Past Missouri, 6-0

Thursday, August 11

Durham, N.C.

5:00 PM

Duke University

Missouri (Exhibition)

Blue Devils Cruise Past Missouri, 6-0

8/11/2016 8:48:00 PM | Women's Soccer

WSOC vs Missouri Highlights WS Payne Postgame Interview - 8-11-16 WS Church Postgame Interview - 8-11-16 Boxscore: Duke 6, Missouri 0 Photo Gallery: Duke 6, Missouri 0

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-- The Duke women's soccer program has been preseason ranked No. 3 nationally and the Blue Devils showcased why they have received such high praise with a 6-0 blanking of Missouri Thursday evening in an exhibition contest at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C.

“We've got some firepower obviously,” said Duke head coach Robbie Church. “So we were able to find some space, run at them and create some things off the dribble. I thought we had good movement off the ball, especially up front. We finished some good goals, but we left some goals to out there. Overall, good, but I wouldn't say great by any means.”

The Blue Devils came out of the gate and scored three goals in the first 15 minutes against a Missouri squad that returned eight starters and placed second in the SEC a year ago.

Senior forward Toni Payne got things going early as she placed a rebounded shot into a free net in the 10th minute to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 advantage.

Less than three minutes later, senior defender Lizzy Raben headed home a corner kick from sophomore Taylor Racioppi to give Duke a 2-0 lead.

At the 15:40 mark, Payne found sophomore Kayla McCoy in the box and the forward finished off the tally and Duke led 3-0.

The Blue Devils emptied the bench and kept attacking in the first half. Duke held a 17-4 advantage in shots at the end of the first stanza.

Missouri came out in the second half and attempted the first two shots, before taking a total of six shots over the first 18 minutes of the period. The Blue Devil experienced defense held strong and continued to preserve the shutout.

Duke stayed patient and put another on the board at the 62:39 mark as junior Imani Dorsey took a long feed down the field and beat multiple defenders to score her first of two goals on the night. Dorsey, a native of Elkridge, Md., added a second tally exactly three minutes later as she took a pass from freshman Mia Gyau and placed it perfectly in the corner.

With Duke holding a 5-0 lead, the Blue Devils kept pressing the Tiger defense. In two straight shots, Malinda Allen hit the crossbar and Morgan Reid hit the post in the 74th minute.

After entering the match two minutes earlier, freshman Lexi Magliarditi took a pass from Allen and beat the Missouri keeper to make the score 6-0 in favor of Duke.

“In the first exhibition game, we wanted to come out and show what we could do and I think our team came out with really great energy,” said Payne. “I think we did really well in the beginning.”

For the match, Duke held a 32-13 advantage in shots.

Junior EJ Proctor started in goal and played 77:37 minutes, while collecting six saves for Duke. Freshman Mackenzie Coles played the final 12:23 minutes in her Duke debut.

“We played everybody on our roster that was eligible to play today and I thought they all played well,” said Church. “It was a good start, but we know the real thing starts Friday in the Carolina Nike Tournament. We have some areas we have to work on and we have to get better in some areas. We will be tested in that tournament and we look forward to that.”

Duke will be off until the season opener against Wofford Friday, Aug. 19 at 5 p.m., in the UNC Nike Classic played in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Blue Devils will close the classic against Central Florida Sunday, Aug. 21 at 12 p.m. The home opener will be Sunday, Aug. 28 versus Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m.

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