PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Fueled by three goals over the first 20 minutes of play, the Duke women’s soccer team opened ACC play Friday evening with a 3-0 blanking of Pittsburgh on the road at Ambrose Urbanic Field at Petersen Sports Complex in Pittsburgh, Pa.

 

The Blue Devils improved to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in ACC play, while Pittsburgh dropped to 4-5, 0-1 in ACC action. 

 

Duke didn’t wait long to get the scoring going as senior Kelly Cobb and freshman Imani Dorsey set sophomore Christina Gibbons up for her third goal of the season at the 2:56 mark.  Gibbons, who hails from Raleigh, N.C., connected on her third goal over the last four matches. 

 

Less than five minutes later, Cobb sent a great cross to Dorsey, who put away her third tally of the season to increase Duke’s lead to, 2-0, at the 7:15 mark. 

 

The Blue Devils would go ahead 3-0 just 20 minutes into the match as Gibbons sent a feed to sophomore Toni Payne, who finished into the upper part of the net.  Payne, a native of Birmingham, Ala., collected her tied for team best fourth goal of the season. 

 

“Anytime you score a goal early it gets teams on their back foot,” said Duke head coach Robbie Church.  “That was important to put them on their back foot and not give them a lot of belief.  I was really, really happy with our start.  I thought our ball movement was good, I thought we balanced the ball well, had nice little cuts to the box, good delivery of the passes and the kids did a good job of finding the corners.”

 

Duke kept dominating the run of play to close the first half but finished with a 3-0 lead.  At the end of the first stanza, the Blue Devils held a 15-0 advantage in shots.  The three first half goals for Duke on the night, matched a season high, which also occurred against UAB. 

 

The second half was much like the first, but Pittsburgh was able to get six shots off.  The Blue Devils had numerous chances but couldn’t put anything in the back of the net.  The Panthers were held without a shot until the 70:17 mark.

 

In goal for Duke, redshirt junior Ali Kershner played the first 45 minutes and didn’t face a shot.  Freshman EJ Proctor and redshirt senior Meghan Thomas closed the match playing just over 22 minutes each.  Thomas, a native of Castle Rock, Colo., netted all four saves for the Duke keepers. 

 

For the match, the Blue Devils outshot the Panthers, 25-6.  Dorsey, who is from Elkridge, Md., attempted a team-high seven shots on the evening and has now taken seven or more shots in three straight matches.  Gibbons attempted a career-high five shots, while Payne and sophomore Krysia Sikora each had three shots.  Sixteen of Duke’s 25 shots on the night were on goal. 

 

“The kids really got ready to play this week,” said Church.  “They were really excited about the ACC opener.”

 

 

Duke now features a 2-0 record in true road matches with wins coming against West Virginia and Pittsburgh. 

 

The Blue Devils will next travel down the road to Raleigh, N.C., to face NC State Thursday, Sept. 25 for a 7:00 p.m., match that will be aired on ESPN3.

 

 

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