After offensively dominating Ursinus on Sunday with eight goals on 29 shots, the Blue Devils narrowly prevailed in a matchup with Villanova Tuesday at Villanova Stadium. Senior Angie North scored her first goal of the season with 7:37 left in the game to give the Blue Devils a 3-2 victory, improving their overall record to 9-5.
"[The Wildcats] were very good," coach Liz Tchou said. "We saw a tape and knew it would be a tough game. They are constantly pressuring the ball and they really believe in their system. Their coaching staff is doing a great job. I was really proud of the way we came out on top."
According to North, Villanova's aggressive play and good transition game forced the Blue Devils to make early adjustments in their style of play. However, despite being limited to only four shots in the first half, the Blue Devils still notched the first goal of the game when junior Chrissy Ashley's shot was deflected into the cage by sophomore Stacey Tsougas.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats came out firing on their home field, registering nine shots in the first half, but were held scoreless by Blue Devil goalkeeper Hallie Smith until Villanova tied the game three minutes into the second half on a goal by Leah Lisausky.
"Villanova's an extremely tough and high-tempo team. Their style of play forced us to make quick decisions," Tchou said. "Hallie saved us from giving up one or two goals in the first half. She played really tough."
Aggressive play gained the Blue Devils 12 penalty corners in the game, one of which led to Ashley's fifth goal of the season, putting Duke back in front 2-1. Seniors Liz Bateman and Kim Susko picked up the assists.
The Wildcats pulled the game back into a tie with 11:39 remaining on a goal by Brooke Bergmann. However, just four minutes later, North's goal put the 14th ranked Blue Devils ahead for good.
"I was just in the right spot at the right time," North said. "A corner was deflected by their goalie and I was there for the rebound."
The close victory came two days after the Blue Devils shutout Ursinus on the same field. Bateman opened the scoring with her 10th goal of the season just 3:15 into the game. Freshman Johanna Bischof scored the next two goals for the Blue Devils, and added two more in the second half, becoming the first player in the ACC this year with a four goal game.
Junior Chrissy Ashley scored twice in the second half and sophomore Kim Van Kirk scored Duke's final goal against Ursinus. It was her sixth of the year and fourth in five games.
"It was good for us to play that game [against Ursinus] on Villanova's turf," Tchou said. "I thought we did a really good job keeping our quality of play up. It was also good to get other people scoring."
The Blue Devils will look to build on their good play when they return home for an ACC matchup against fifth ranked North Carolina next Sunday.
"UNC is a very patient team," Tchou said. "Our off-the-ball movement will be important. We are going to work on not overcommitting ourselves. Also, we need to minimize our unforced errors, especially out of the backfield."
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