Feb. 22, 2008

No. 3 Duke Bests No. 18 Richmond In Cold Rain

Duke earned its third victory this season in as many games as it dominated the Richmond Spiders, 17-6, on Friday afternoon at a cold and rainy First Market Stadium. The Blue Devils were led on offense by junior midfielder Carolyn Davis with three goals and three assists and on defense by junior goalie Kim Imbesi with 10 saves and five ground balls.

Duke got off to a fast start in the first period on the strength of three goals by Davis in the first eight minutes. Senior midfielder Allie Johnson notched the next two scores for Duke and built an 8-2 lead going into the break after scoring the last five goals of the half.

The Devil defense was stifling throughout the game, and in the first stanza alone caused seven turnovers, broke up three of eight clears and limited the Spiders to just six shots and two goals. Guided by Imbesi's 10 saves for the game, the defensive unit caused a total of 12 turnovers, including two by Davis, and shut down Richmond by giving up just six goals on 19 shots. Two of those six scores came in the final three minutes of the contest, when the matter had already been decided.

The first 1:32 of the second half gave Duke a small scare, as Richmond came out and hit paydirt twice, but 8-4 was as close as the Spiders would get the rest of the way. The Blue Devils would control the ball and score the next eight goals, including three by freshman midfielder Sarah Bullard, over a span of 25:36 in the second stanza.

Duke got a big game from Johnson, who tallied three goals and a team-best five draw controls. The native of Annapolis, Md., has absolutely dominated on the draw this season, picking up 14 in just three games. The Blue Devils were once again successful on the draw as a team, holding a 17-7 advantage overall.

Tech edged by Oregon, 14-13

• Webcast on ACC Select

Virginia Tech fell 14-13 to the Oregon Ducks on Friday afternoon despite a 6-4 lead in the first half. Rachel Culp had a season high of three goals against the Ducks as she and teammates Kady McBreaty and Allie Emala continue their three-game scoring streak.

The Ducks came out on fire in the second half, quickly scoring two goals in less than one minute. The 6-6 tie did not last long as the next 20 minutes were filled with back and forth goals between the Hokies and the Ducks.

Neither team led by more than two goals the entire game.

The score was tied for the last time at 12-12 with 11:59 on the clock when the Ducks strategically held possession for the next four minutes, which marked the longest span of time in the second half that neither team found the back of the net.

With 6:22 on the clock, Oregon's Lindsay Killian had her second goal of the day. Oregon had another goal with 2:41 left, bringing the score to 14-12.

Culp answered back by scoring a free position goal with 1:31 left in the game, marking the last goal of the contest and sealing the final score at 14-13.