DURHAM – Caroline DeBellis and Katie DeSimone combined for 13 points and helped lead a balanced attack to a 15-10 Duke victory over No.8 Virginia, Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
With the victory, the Blue Devils improve to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play and hand the Cavaliers just their third loss this season (9-3, 3-3 ACC). This marked Duke’s highest ranked win since April 16, 2022 when it knocked off No. 2 Boston College.
DeBellis strung together a career-high six goals and an assist while DeSimone collected four goals and two dimes on the afternoon. Carly Bernstein dished a tied-for-career-high four assists as 13 of Duke’s 15 goals were assisted. Duke also shared the wealth as 10 different players registered a point.
Defensively, goalie Kennedy Everson was stellar between the pipes with a .524 save percentage with a tied-for-career-high 11 saves. Virginia’s 10 goals are tied for the second fewest by the team this spring, a credit to Duke’s locked-in defense. Margaret Anne Warner led the team with three ground balls and a caused turnover, while Kerry Nease and Reese Woodworth combined for 12 draw controls.
How it Happened
- Virginia was first on the board with two scores from Kiki Shaw and Kate Miller before Duke closed out the period with two tallies from DeBellis and one from McCorkle.
- The Cavaliers added two more to lead by one (4-3) before Duke outscored Virginia 10-2, a run that spanned 25 minutes.
- DeSimone tallied three consecutive goals in three minutes, giving Duke an 8-4 lead at halftime.
- Virginia cut the deficit to three (8-5), but that would be as close as it would get the rest of the way. Duke ended the third quarter on a 4-1 run with three goals from DeBellis.
- The Blue Devils were held scoreless for 11 minutes in the final frame while Virginia added four goals, but the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
Notables
- It was head coach Kerstin Kimel‘s 348th-career victory and her 344th at the helm of the Blue Devils.
- The all-time series moves to 27-18 in favor of Virginia.
- Duke moves to 5-3 in contests in Durham this season.
- DeSimone now owns 257 career points to rank fourth in program history. She is 30 points shy of tying Duke great Katie Chrest Erbe’s all-time points record of 287.
- DeSimone now owns 185 career goals to rank third in program history. She is 31 goals shy of tying Chrest Erbe’s all-time goals record (216).
- DeSimone has registered a hat trick in 32 contests and 34 games with four-or-more points.
- Virginia was led by Katia Carnevale with a goal and two assists.
Looking Ahead
- Duke will have a quick turnaround with a Monday night contest against Campbell at Koskinen Stadium.
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First appeared on goduke.com