After facing three consecutive ranked opponents on the road over the past two weeks, Duke field hockey fell 1-0 to No. 12 Liberty in a battle of defensive prowess and missed opportunities Sunday afternoon.
With six seconds left on the clock on the Liberty Field Hockey field, senior Kira Curland was tackled hard to the ground and Duke had one last chance to tie the game with a penalty corner. The tension in Lynchburg, Va., was unbearable. Everyone held their breath as Curland took one crucial swing at the Liberty defense. The ball sailed through the air towards its target, went past the goal, and the final whistle blew to signal an unfortunate end to the Blue Devils’ furious charge.
The defeat came about after Duke (4-2) outshot Liberty 14-6 and held a commanding 9-2 edge in penalty corners. The deciding factor came with Lady Flames goalkeeper Michaela Skinner, who managed an incredible career-high five saves to deny the Blue Devils.
“It’s one of those unlucky days where you dominate and you have opportunities and we just couldn’t capitalize on them,” said Duke head coach Pam Bustin after the game. “I thought Liberty challenged us with heavy numbers on the defensive side.”
It was chaos in front of the Duke cage at the beginning of the fourth quarter, as Blue Devil goalie Frederique Wollaert desperately dived to save a shot by Liberty (4-1). However, the rebound fell squarely in front of Lady Flames junior Lou Combrinck, who calmly slotted it in to break the 45-minute deadlock. Duke increased the pressure after falling behind as it looked for an equalizer. A short range rebound attempt by junior Alaina McVeigh just missed to the top corner of goal, and Liberty yet again clung on to its 1-0 advantage
A green card late to Liberty in the fourth quarter gave the Blue Devils hope as it meant that the Lady Flames were down one player for the last five minutes. Indeed, Duke tried to take full advantage of their extra number by leaving the goal empty and fielding another outfield player in an attempt to score. Although the Blue Devils tried their best and incredibly outshot Liberty 10-0 in the last eleven minutes of the game, they were unable to finish their chances and convert.
“It’s really just being more clinical,” Bustin said. “We just have to be prepared to execute it.”
The Blue Devils got off to a slow start in the first half as the Lady Flames used their home ground advantage to demonstrate a resilient defense. Neither team managed to register a single shot in the first fifteen minutes. Duke finally had its chance with two minutes left in the second quarter with two consecutive corners, but McVeigh’s attempt at goal was deflected and came to nought. The Blue Devils’ defense also shined, and Duke reached a consecutive 200 minutes without conceding a goal — more than ten quarters worth of play.
The third quarter in field hockey usually produces some action; that was definitely true for Sunday’s game. Liberty came out of the half energetic and produced the first shot on goal of the game in their first corner, which forced a brilliant save from Wollaert to prevent the long-range attempt from going in. The Blue Devils responded immediately by getting a penalty corner of their own, but again were unable to break through the Lady Flames’ defense.
“We’re definitely going to learn from it,” Bustin said. “We will have to make some adjustments when there’s not a lot of space to create our attack.”
Duke played another game in Virginia earlier in the week, winning against No.18 Old Dominion 2-0 Friday. McVeigh scored both goals, marking the fifth time she has scored multiple goals in a single game as a Blue Devil. Duke’s shutout of the Monarchs (4-2) was again a testament to the team’s defensive capabilities this season; it has been able to hold against multiple ranked teams’ offensive outputs.
Duke will return home to Durham Sept. 22 to play Saint Joseph’s, hoping to bounce back from the defeat by Liberty.
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