No. 9 Duke Field Hockey Drops Boston College, 5-0

Saturday, October 4

Durham, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Duke University

Boston College

No. 9 Duke Field Hockey Drops Boston College, 5-0

10/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? The No. 9 Duke field hockey team earned its first conference win of the season with a convincing 5-0 victory over No. 13 Boston College Saturday afternoon at Williams Field. The win brought Duke to 7-3 (1-2 ACC) on the season, while the Eagles fell to 6-4 (0-3). It was the Blue Devils' fourth win of the season over a ranked opponent.

The Blue Devils' five goals marks its largest scoring output of the season, the first time since Oct. 21, 2007 that Duke has netted five in a contest, a feat it accomplished twice last season.

Three of the Duke goals came by way of the penalty corner, as the team collected 17 on the day to the Eagles' seven.

The Blue Devils were led by two goals apiece by freshman Megan Deakins and sophomore Susan Ferger, while senior Laura Suchoski also found the scoring column. Duke erupted for 26 shots in the game, allowing just eight for Boston College and only one shot on goal.

“It feels great to beat a team like Boston College by five goals,” said head coach Beth Bozman. “We are really happy, and this is an important ACC win for us. They are a good team and it was important for us to take care of business today.”

Duke got on the board with just under three minutes gone by in the game, as Deakins set the tone with her first score. The freshman notched her fourth goal of the season on a tip-in off the pass from the top off a Duke penalty corner, with the assists going to Lauren Miller and Brooke Patterson at the top of the circle.

Ferger then put Duke up 2-0 with her first of the afternoon at the 29:13 mark, an unassisted goal off her own rebound in front of the cage. Ferger's second of the day and sixth of the season came two minutes after halftime at the 37:16 mark, when she tipped in the pass off another Duke penalty corner. Ferger waited at the left post to send the ball past the BC keeper, off assists from Miller and freshman Rhian Jones to lift Duke to the 3-0 advantage.

Duke's fourth score came at 46:54, an unassisted goal for Suchoski who sent the one-timer into the cage off a corner for her first of the season.

Deakins notched her second tally of the day and fourth of the year at the 55:37 mark, an unassisted score played in from the right side past the keeper to make it 5-0 in favor of the Blue Devils, which is where it would stay.

Duke again withstood a late scoring chance by the opposition, as Boston College was awarded a pair of corners with under a minute to play ? the second with time expired. But the Duke defense and keeper Samantha Nelson were able to preserve the shutout, the team's third of the season.

“We've been working hard on finishing our scoring chances,” said Deakins. “In the second half we were able to get where we were supposed to be and take advantage of our opportunities.”

Julia Berkowitz made nine saves in 70 minutes of action for Boston College, while Nelson was only faced with one shot on goal in the contest in recording the shutout. With the shots 9-4 in favor of Duke at the halfway point, the Blue Devils turned in a second-half flurry as they out-shot BC 17-4 in the category after halftime.

Amie Survilla led Duke with seven shots, followed by Suchoski with six. The Duke defense was also able to contain BC's leading scorer, All-America Bob Dirks, who managed just two shots in the game and did not add to her 10 season goals.

The win brings Duke to 6-4 all-time against Boston College.

The Blue Devils will be back at it tomorrow, with a 1 p.m. match-up with another Boston rival in Boston University at Williams Field. Following that game, BC will face Appalachian State at 3 p.m. on Duke's turf.

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