Duke entered its fall break road trip trying to establish itself as a serious national title contender.
Mission accomplished.
Duke (11-3, 2-2 in the ACC) won all three of its games over the long weekend despite slow starts, with the highlight of the trip coming in a 2-0 victory against defending national champions and No. 1 Maryland Saturday in College Park, Md.
"We've finally hit our stride," head coach Beth Bozman said. "We're where we want to be."
In a rematch of last year's national championship game, which Maryland (12-1, 3-1) won, 1-0, neither team could manage a shot early on-in the first half both teams managed only one shot. Duke, however, took advantage of its one shot as Marian Dickinson scored her 14th goal of the year off a deflection at the 6:13 mark.
The Blue Devils heated up following halftime, starting out with two consecutive penalty corners. But Duke did not convert and it became a defensive duel for the majority of the half.
In the game's 60th minute, Duke earned its third penalty corner of the half, and Amy Stopford took advantage for her ninth goal of the season.
For the entire game, Maryland got off nine shots to Duke's four, but the Blue Devils' team defense held strong, shutting out the Terrapins.
"It was a complete team effort," Bozman said. "Everyone gave 100 percent, and it led to a win."
After the win over Maryland, the Blue Devils travelled to Philadelphia to play No. 15 Villanova (11-3) Monday. Duke got off to a slow start, trailing the Wildcats, 2-0, before Hilary Linton's second goal of the season in the 32nd minute brought the Blue Devils to within one.
"The reality is we had a huge game against Maryland," Bozman said. "We had a letdown, and we got a little tired."
It didn't take long for Duke to heat up, however, as it scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half and wound up with six in the period. For the game, the Blue Devils outshot the Wildcats, 29-9, leading to the 7-2 victory.
Duke closed out its three-game stretch with a 5-1 win against Drexel (6-8) Tuesday, highlighted by a Dickinson hat trick-her third of the season.
The Blue Devils again started slow, managing only a score on a penalty corner by Amy Stopford with no time left in the first half. Fortunately for Duke, Drexel came out equally slow, managing only two shots.
Once again, the Blue Devils shot out with a scoring flurry in the second, as Dickinson scored her three goals within the first 15 minutes of the half and Laura Suchoski provided the final goal for Duke at the 60-minute mark.
The successful road trip bumped the Blue Devils up to No. 4 in the national rankings, behind Maryland, Wake Forest and Old Dominion.
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