DURHAM, N.C. – Looking for its first ACC victory of the 2015 campaign, the Duke women’s soccer team traveled to Coral Gables, Fla., Thursday evening and registered a 1-0 shutout victory over Miami at Cobb Stadium. 

 

With the win, the Blue Devils improved to 7-4-3 overall and 1-2-2 in league action, while Miami dropped to 4-8, 1-4. 

 

“I am very, very happy with the win,” said Duke head coach Robbie Church.  “More important is just how we played.  Our mentality was great, we were so aggressive and we played very well from the beginning until the end of the match.  I thought it was a great effort by the team.  They prepared themselves very well and executed what we wanted to do out there.”

 

Duke came out on the attack from the start of the match, but the Blue Devils were flagged for offside on the first three attempts.  Duke junior Toni Payne and Cassie Pecht then took the first two shots of the match that were blocked. 

 

After opening with a 4-1 advantage in shots, Miami stormed back to close the first half taking the next five of the next six attempts.  At the end of the first half, the score remained 0-0 and the Hurricanes held a 6-5 advantage in shots.

 

The Blue Devils opened the second half by nearly connecting on the first goal of the match as sophomore Ashton Miller fired a shot from right side of the box that skimmed off the crossbar and went out of bounds. 

 

Duke finally got on the board at the 54:30 mark, after sophomore Imani Dorsey fed freshman Kayla McCoy in front of the goal.  McCoy, a product of Lincolnwood, Ill., tried to get a foot on it as she battled with a Hurricane defender.  After falling on the ground, McCoy stood halfway up and used her right foot to kick the ball into the upper 90 of the goal.

 

“It was a hard-effort goal,” commented Church.  “She did a good job of staying with it and not giving up on it.  She kind of halfway up and was able to knock it in.  That is her type of goal.  She is a scrappy player, plays hard in the box, sees balls and turns.”

 

McCoy’s goal was her team-high sixth of the season and it ended up being her second game-winning tally. 

 

After going ahead, 1-0, the Blue Devils kept putting the pressure on the Miami defense but couldn’t connect on any more goals.  Duke outshot the Hurricanes, 11-3, in the final 45 minutes and ended the match with a 16-9 shot advantage.

 

Payne, a product of Birmingham, Ala., led all Blue Devils with five shots, including four on goal. Dorsey and freshman Taylor Racioppi added three attempts each. 

 

In goal for the Blue Devils, sophomore EJ Proctor posted her fifth shutout of the season as she netted four saves on the night.  Duke has now collected a total of eight shutouts on the year, which is the most by a Blue Devil squad since the 2011 campaign (16). 

 

Duke will continue its road trip as the Blue Devils will travel to Louisville, Ky., for a Sunday, Oct. 11 match with Louisville.  It will be aired live on ESPN3. 

 

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