Duke's field hockey team had another really nice weekend.
After dominating the Blue Hen Classic a week ago in Delaware, winning two games by a combined score of 15-1, the Blue Devils (4-0) actually outdid themselves this weekend, as they beat James Madison 9-0 Saturday and Appalachian State 6-0 Sunday, both at Williams Field. Duke controlled the Mountaineers from the start, racking up 20 shots on goal and 15 penalty corner in the first half alone. Chrissie Murphy scored three goals--all of which came in the second half--to lead the
Blue Devils while Katie Grant had two scores of her own. But despite the lopsided score and the gaudy numbers her team put up, Duke coach Beth Bozman was less than satisfied with her team's performance.
"[We were] feeling better after Saturday," Bozman said. "I think we were flat today. But I guess if you can look flat and win 6-0, it's not too bad. I was honestly frustrated with our focus across the board.... We just really needed to take care of the simple things, stay at the task at hand. We were a little distracted. You have a big win like we did yesterday, and it's hard to stay focused, but it's a sign of a great team when you can just come back and roll over an opponent that's not as strong as the opponent we just beat."
Duke failed to capitalize on its penalty corner opportunities all day, often mishandling the entry pass. In all, out of 23 corner chances, the Blue Devils scored on only one of them.
"I think that [corner play] is something we will work on this week," Murphy said. "I think the main thing with those is that we did not have a girl in the goalie's pads. We need to work better on getting the tip-ins on the corners.... We expected to score more goals. Even though it is 6-0, in general I think our team is a little disappointed.
I was happy we were able to get the goals we did, but in general I think our team would have liked to put the ball into the net." Appalachian State also gave Duke some trouble, as the Mountaineers packed their defense in tight, according to Bozman.
"We just were really overcomplicating things," Bozman said. "We want to try to stick to a simple game plan. Appalachian just packed everybody into the circle, so we had to be a little more creative and not be frantic and put the ball in the cage. I do think their goalkeeper did a nice job."
Duke played JMU twice last year, losing once away, and winning once when it counted in the NCAA tournament. In addition, the Dukes beat eventual NCAA champions Wake Forest last season.
This may all be a sign of good things to come for the undefeated Blue Devils, who hosts the Demon Deacons Saturday.
"It's nice to come out 4-0. [Do we feel unstoppable?] Definitely, and it is a good feeling going into Wake Forest. We did not play as well today as we did yesterday, but still being 4-0 in general coming up against the team who has ended up being our biggest rival, Wake Forest, we are really looking forward to it.... Everyone's pretty psyched up."
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