Three Score First Duke Goals; Blue Devils Collect 3-0 Road Win at Nebraska

Thursday, August 22

Lincoln, Neb.

8 p.m.

Duke University

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Nebraska

1-2-0, 0-0-0

Duke

Nebraska

Photo by: Scott Bruhn, Nebraska Sports Information

Three Score First Duke Goals; Blue Devils Collect 3-0 Road Win at Nebraska

8/22/2024 11:33:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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LINCOLN, Neb. – Three different players scored their first goals in a Duke women's soccer uniform Thursday as the Blue Devils posted a 3-0 win on the road at Nebraska, which was played at Hibner Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.

A pair of transfers – Ella Hase and Farrah Walters – scored the first two goals, while sophomore Mia Minestrella added her first collegiate goal in the second half to propel Duke to the win. Sophomore transfer Mia Oliaro chipped in two assists, while fifth-year goalkeeper Leah Freeman finished with one save over 90 minutes in goal for her 24th career shutout.

Duke improved to 1-1-0, while Nebraska fell to 1-2-0.

How It Happened

Duke featured an early look at goal in the first three minutes as sophomore Mia Oliaro sent a perfect cross to a leaping graduate student Maggie Graham, but her header went just wide right.
Junior Farrah Walters then was able to get out in front of the Cornhusker defense and her shot was saved by Nebraska goalkeeper Cece Villa five minutes in.
Oliaro got into the action a little more than a minute later as she fired a shot that was saved as well.Duke attempted the first three shots of the match.
After being on the attack early, Duke was rewarded for its efforts as Oliaro drove into the box from the right side and sent a wonderful cross where fifth-year Ella Hase was there for her first goal as a Blue Devil at the 13:26 mark.
Hase, a native of Orland Park, Ill., used her right foot to hit the bottom of the crossbar and then the back of the net for her 15th career tally.
Duke kept on the offensive for most of the first half and featured numerous excellent scoring chances.
At the end of the first half, Duke held an 11-5 shot advantage with Walters, junior Carina Lageyre and junior Kat Rader with two each to lead the Blue Devils.
Nebraska came out in the second half and turned in the first shot, but Duke goalkeeper Leah Freeman was there for the save.
In the 69th-minute, Duke was able to double its lead.Lageyre took the ball at midfield and drove down the center of the field and fed a beautiful pass to a streaking Walters, who finished in the back of the net to give the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead.
A product of Scottsdale, Ariz., Walters collected her 12th career goal and first as a Blue Devil.
Duke went ahead 3-0 at the 76:25 mark as Rader found Oliaro on the right side of the pitch and did a great job of crossing a long ball from the endline to in front of the goal where sophomore Mia Minestrella was waiting for a header in the back of the net.
It marked Minestrella's first collegiate goal in her 18th career match.

Notes

Fifth-year Ella Hase made her first Duke start and 68th of her college career at Duke and Northwestern.
Over the last 10 matches Duke has played dating back to last year, it was only the second first half goal for the Blue Devils in that span (Virginia Tech by Phoebe Goldthwaite on 10/29/23).
Duke's three goals were the most for the Blue Devils since the 2022 season against Radford on Nov. 12 in the NCAA Tournament first round.
Fifth-year Leah Freeman totaled her sixth shutout as a Blue Devil and 24th of her career.
For the match, Duke held a 20-6 advantage in shots.Kat Rader led Duke with a season-high five shots, while Farrah Walters notched a season-high four attempts.
Junior Elle Piper missed the contest, after suffering an injury in the season opener.
Freshman Mary Long did not travel with the Blue Devils as she is in California training with the U.S. U-17 Youth National Team.

Quotes

"I am really, really proud of the girls.I thought the energy and passion we played with was fantastic. I thought we were on the front foot for most of the game. That second goal took a little bit of time to go, but what a great goal.I just thought we played really well overall, especially in the second half."-- Duke head coach Robbie Church

"Let's talk about our goal scorers -- three of them, first time goal scorers for Duke University. Two brand new players that came in this year scoring goals and that's why we recruited them.Then Mia Minestrella struggled a little bit last year and had some injuries.She worked so hard over the summer. So happy to see her score goals."-- Duke head coach Robbie Church

"Hannah [Bebar] and Carina [Lageyre], what a duo, those two in the middle of the field. I think they're one of the best [duos] in the country."-- Duke head coach Robbie Church

Next Match

Duke will return home to open a five-match homestand with the first coming on Thursday, Aug. 29 against UNC Wilmington at 7 p.m., inside Koskinen Stadium.The match will be aired live on ACCNX.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".

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