The field hockey team was dominated in nearly every offensive statistic yesterday against James Madison, but then again, statistics only tell part of the story.
Duke (4-2) was outshot by James Madison (3-4) but goals by Caroline Helwig, Corey Ceccolini and the game-clincher by Mary Jo Reider helped the 13th-ranked Blue Devils defeat the Dukes, 3-2, at the East Campus Turf Field.
It was the third-consecutive victory for Duke and was redemption for the Blue Devils against a James Madison team to whom they lost 6-4 a year ago.
Despite having the ball on its defensive side of the field for much of the game, Duke remained in control throughout.
"[James Madison's] trait is to come out and attack with emotion," coach Liz Tchou said. "But we remained poised and were able to open up the field and counter against them."
Duke quickly capitalized against James Madison's aggressive style of play. Just five minutes into the game the Blue Devils took advantage of a JMU turnover and Ceccolini dished off to Helwig who knocked the ball into the back of the cage. It marked the first goal of the season for Helwig and the first goal scored by a Duke player other than Ceccolini.
Minutes later, Duke surged ahead 2-0 as Ceccolini scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season off of an assist by Emily Ford.
"Give all the credit to [Ford]," Ceccolini said. "She pulled the goalie out of the goal and made my job easy."
James Madison, though, would not go away. With 16 minutes left in the first half, the Dukes' Katrina Hunter fired in a goal off of a penalty corner.
"The defense played the penalty right," Duke goalkeeper Jenn Robb said. "But they just had a great shot."
In the second half, Robb carried the team defensively with her brilliant play. The junior had nine saves in the game, including a succession of diving saves against three consecutive penalty corners at the beginning of the second half.
"She did a great job," said Reider. "I feel so confident with her behind us. She really saved us today."
The second half of the game remained tight with James Madison threatening to score throughout the half. Finally, with 9:19 left in the game, Duke took advantage of a penalty corner when Reider scored on a shot from the point.
"It was really a broken play," Tchou said. "Mary Jo really worked on her shot this week and that really helped.
"The penalty corner was supposed to go to Emily [Ford]," added Reider. "But she was covered and I had an open shot so I took it."
James Madison came back with 47 seconds left in the game when Julie Weiss scored off a deflection by Robb, but the Dukes were unable to overcome the one-goal deficit.
Duke has the remainder of the week off before starting a grueling weekend as they head to Chapel Hill to face No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday at 1 p.m. Duke will then have to recover quickly as it returns the next day to face Richmond on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the East Campus Turf Field.
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