Tensions were high in Jack Katz Stadium as No. 5 Duke field hockey took on No. 10 Saint Joseph’s Sunday afternoon.
Despite Duke gaining momentum and driving the ball down the field many times, two zeros were still on the scoreboard after four quarters and two overtime periods. Everyone held their breath as the teams entered a shootout, which consisted of five scoring opportunities per team in a 1 vs. 1 play against the goalie.
The stroke-off started strong with two back-to-back goals from Saint Joseph’s Maaike Gorissen and Duke’s Alaina McVeigh. A miss-streak of four shots was broken by the Hawks’ Julia Duffhuis. After another miss from the Blue Devils, a goal from the Saint Joseph’s would have secured the game. Goalie Frederique Wollaert blocked the shot, giving Duke another chance to tie, but that was initially blocked and then hit wide.
In the end, the Blue Devils fell to the Hawks 2-1 for their second straight loss after a disappointing 1-0 loss at No. 12 Liberty last Sunday.
“Yeah, two very disappointing outcomes,” head coach Pam Bustin said. "Who are we as we go into the ACC and who do we want to be? The team has to make that decision, and it’s really got to come from the team … we’re there to help them.”
The dampened feelings seemed to be present Sunday, as Saint Joseph’s dominated the first quarter with five shots and five corners, while the Blue Devils took one shot and received zero corners. The next two quarters were more competitive, with Duke giving up no shots and having five of their own. The final quarter was more similar to the first, with the Hawks shooting five times and taking two corners; the Blue Devils had no shots or corners.
The Duke defense worked hard against Saint Joseph’s throughout the competition, as it successfully defended eight corners. While this seems like a substantial number to give up, Bustin noted that many of the corners were given up off of well-defended corner plays themselves.
“We have a great corner unit, a lot of experience back there,” Bustin said. “I'm really proud of the corner defense, and I thought [Frederique Wollaert] had a phenomenal game again today to keep us in it.”
After an hour of scoreless play, the teams entered overtime with six field players and a goalkeeper. The period was dominated equally by both teams, with possession being kept on both sides of the field. Due to many promising scoring opportunities, everyone became more frantic, including those in the stands. The sun beat down on the already exhausted 14 players, leading to more and more fouls being called.
With about four minutes remaining, Duke’s Josephine Palde received a green card, putting the Blue Devils down a player for two minutes. During those stressful 120 seconds, with “Let’s Go Duke” being chanted from the sidelines, Duke was able to successfully defend another corner, holding the Hawks scoreless.
“One thing that we've always been strong in is the energy from the sideline and the bench,” Bustin said. “After we unfortunately didn’t capitalize on some great opportunities, [the new players] really wanted to help push the team through overtime.”
ACC play starts this upcoming weekend, with the Blue Devils taking on Virginia Friday and Syracuse Sunday. Entering conference play after two back-to-back upsets, Duke will need to make numerous improvements in order to build on last year’s success.
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