Duke Takes Down William & Mary, 4-1

Saturday, October 17

Williamsburg, Va.

1:00 p.m.

Duke University

William & Mary

Duke Takes Down William & Mary, 4-1

10/17/2009 2:45:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Duke had a convincing 4-1 win this afternoon against the William and Mary Tribe in Williamsburg, Va. Freshman Mary Nielsen scored two goals in the contest, including the game-winning score in the first half, to put the Blue Devils in position for the victory.

"It was nice to play well after last weekend's effort," head coach Beth Bozman said. "We played well again today and we were able to come away with the win."

Nielsen found the back of the cage in the 17th minute to put Duke up two scores. The Duncan, British Columbia native was able to deflect a shot attempt from senior forward Amie Survilla past William and Mary goalie Camilia Hill for the second goal of the game, which ended up being the game-deciding score.

The Blue Devils (7-7, 0-4 ACC) were able to control the play in the first half and put some serious pressure on the Tribe. Junior forward Susan Ferger scored the first goal of the game, firing a shot from the left side of the circle that found the cage at the 11:43 mark. The goal was Ferger's seventh of the season, which is second-best on the team.

"It was good to see Susan [Ferger] puts us on the board," coach Bozman added. "Mary [Nielsen] had two really nice executions off of penalty corners as well."

Duke finished the game off with another score from Nielsen, which again came off a penalty corner situation that put the Blue Devils up for good, 4-1. Ferger had the initial shot that Nielsen was able to tip up and into the cage for the goal in the 56th minute. Nielsen's two goals on the day is a new career-high for the freshman, who now has three goals this season along with five assists.

Sophomore forward Jordan Miller also got in on the action with a goal at the 30:43 mark to give Duke the 3-0 lead in the first half. Miller was able to take advantage of a rebounded shot that deflected towards the middle of the circle and knocked the ball into the right side of the cage. She now has three goals on the season.

Duke was solid defensively, giving up only one goal in the 34th minute of play. Junior goalie Samantha Nelson had three saves for the Blue Devils. Duke also held the advantage in shots (17-8) and penalty corners (5-2).

Duke will be back on the turf tomorrow against No. 20 Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va. at 1 p.m.

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