DURHAM, N.C. – The 22^nd-ranked Duke women’s soccer team celebrated senior day Sunday with a 5-0 blanking of NC State at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. 

 

The Blue Devils received five goals from underclassmen, including two by freshman defender Chelsea Burns, as Duke improved to 10-5-4 overall and 4-3-3 in ACC action.   

 

“It was great,” commented head coach Robbie Church.  “You couldn’t have drawn it up any better for us.  We have been playing really well in training and you could see the goals were coming. That has obviously been the area we have been focusing on.  You could see some of the stuff we have been working on in training come to fruition on the field. I am just really, really happy to get everyone into the game because they have all been working really hard and helping develop the team.  It was a perfect senior day.”

 

Prior to the match, Duke honored six seniors on the field and all six Blue Devils received starts in Sunday’s match.  Earning starts in the match were Courtney McDaniel, Sammie Thomas, Kelly McCann, Danielle Duhl, Cassie Pecht and Kara Wilson. 

 

After sending the opening kick out of bounds, both McDaniel and Pecht came off the field due to prior injuries.  The start for McDaniel was the first of her collegiate career and only the third match she has played with the Blue Devils due to injuries.  Pecht has been dealing with an injury since Louisville and had not played in the last three matches.

 

Duke struggled on offense over the first 15 minutes, but after three substitutions in the 17th minute, the Blue Devils were able to get things rolling. 

 

Burns, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., started the scoring off for Duke as her and rookie Taylor Racioppi executed a perfectly timed give-and-go as Burns finished her first collegiate goal into the bottom right corner to put the Blue Devils ahead, 1-0, in the 27th minute.

 

“I just saw Taylor making the run and I knew that she would be there for me on the field and off the field – we are roommates – so we combined well together,” said Burns.  “It feels great to see that success.”

 

Less than a minute later, Burns took the ball away from a Wolfpack defender and took a couple of touches before launching a right-footed shot over the head of NC State goalkeeper Sydney Wootten for her second goal.  

 

“My focus was all on the seniors this game and I think that helped take the pressure off,” commented Burns. “It was all for them.”

 

With the Blue Devils leading 2-0, junior Toni Payne and sophomore Morgan Reid put together a couple of great passes, which ended with sophomore Ashton Miller finishing her fifth tally of the season from eight yards out in the 32nd minute. 

 

Miller, who hails from Okemos, Mich., totaled her third goal over the last three matches and now owns a career-best five tallies on the year. 

 

Towards the end of the first half, Racioppi took a pass from Miller and rocketed in a left-footed blast from 20 yards to give Duke a 4-0 advantage in the 41st minute.  A product of Ocean Township, N.J., Racioppi snapped a streak of 14 straight contests without a goal, after collecting four over her first four matches to start the year.

 

At the end of the first stanza, the Blue Devils held an 8-0 advantage in shots. 

 

Duke controlled the match through the second half as well as the Wolfpack didn’t register their first shot of the match until the 58th minute. 

 

The Blue Devils would take a 5-0 advantage at the 70:40 mark as junior Christina Gibbons made a tremendous run down the right side and crossed to sophomore Imani Dorsey, who headed home her fourth goal of the season.

 

Duke finished the match with a 16-3 shot advantage led by four from Racioppi and three from freshman Kayla McCoy and Dorsey. 

 

Sophomore goalkeeper EJ Proctor was credited with her eighth shutout of the season and the Blue Devil defense notched its 11^th clean sheet of the year.  Proctor, who is from Wilson, N.C., had one save over 90 minutes.

 

With the Blue Devils netting 10 victories on the year, it marks the ninth time Church has led Duke to 10 or more wins. 

 

Duke will next await the NCAA Tournament selection show Monday, Nov. 9 at 4:30 p.m. 

 

“We are very happy to finish with a winning record in the ACC and we give the NCAA our resume now with a 10-5-4 [record],” said Church.  “I think it is a pretty strong resume with quality wins up and down; quality results with it to.  I am very happy with where we are right now and really looking forward to the postseason.”

 

#GoDuke