DURHAM, N.C. -- Junior midfielder Taylor Trimble tallied a season-high four goals and eight other Blue Devils also scored in a 17-6 victory against Jacksonville on Sunday.
The Duke defense held its opponent to single-digit scoring for the second consecutive game with sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea posting 11 saves against 20 shots by the Dolphins. Jacksonville entered the contest averaging 14.86 goals per game but was limited to just the six scores.
On the day, the Blue Devils (6-3, 1-1 ACC) held the advantage in shots (30-20), draw controls (14-11) and ground balls (16-14) while going 14-of-15 on clearing attempts.
Junior Kerrin Maurer scored just 12 seconds into the game to ignite an 8-0 scoring streak for Duke. Trimble found the back of the net twice during that span with seniors Maddy Morrissey and Molly Quirke and sophomores Maddy Acton andKelci Smesko also providing goals.
“Our ability to win the draw and then go down and really execute on offense gave us a nice cushion,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “It got our confidence going and then we were able to feel like we could run a lot of different things and keep the ball moving in transition and pushing our fast and secondary break. That resulted in a lot of good looks for us today.”
Kelsey Wiglesworth put the Dolphins on the board with a free position goal at the 20:00 mark but the Blue Devils continued to play the aggressor, forcing Jacksonville into several turnovers to take a 12-2 advantage at the half.
“A signature of a good team is a team that’s willing to play equally hard on defense as they are on offense,” said Kimel. “A lot of those turnovers were created by our attackers and our midfielders working in tandem to put the pressure on and come up with the loose ball.”
The Dolphins opened the second period with another marker by Wiglesworth to pull within nine, but the visiting squad would get no closer for the remainder of the contest. Goals by senior Sydney Peterson, Trimble and Maurer extended Duke’s lead to 12 with 21 minutes to play.
Despite three more second-half scores by Jacksonville, the Blue Devils’ solid play in the midfield and on the defensive end prevented the Dolphins from finding offensive rhythm. Peterson tacked on two more tallies inside the final 13 minutes to seal the 11-goal victory for Duke.
Peterson and Trimble both collected hat tricks for the second-straight outing with Morrissey, Maurer and junior Chelsea Landon also contributing multiple scores. Maurer and Smesko added three assists each and Trimble logged two helpers for a game-high six points. Trimble also matched a career-high with five draw controls while senior Taylor Virden won three draws to go along with one ground ball. Morrissey matched a career-best with three ground balls and 10 other Blue Devils also picked up ground balls on the afternoon.
“Playing a complete game as a unit offensively was a big focus for us coming into this game,” said Trimble. “We just played really sharp. Our passing game felt really good. In the midfield we were swarming them, especially on the draw.”
