Blue Devils Outlast Terriers 1-0 in Overtime

Sunday, October 2

Boston, Mass.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Boston University

Blue Devils Outlast Terriers 1-0 in Overtime

10/2/2011 3:46:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

NEWTON, Mass. - For the fifth time this season, the ninth-ranked Duke field hockey team headed to overtime, but the Blue Devils needed less than four minutes to register the gamewinner as senior Tara Jennings scored her third goal of the season to lift Duke to a 1-0 win over Boston University Sunday afternoon from Boston College's Newton Campus Field.

Duke, which earned its second victory of the weekend after beating No. 8 Boston College 4-2 Friday, improves to 7-4 (2-1 ACC) on the season, while No. 18 Boston University falls to 7-5 overall. The Blue Devils dominated much of the game, earning their fourth shutout of the year and limiting the Terriers to just one shot on the afternoon. Duke totaled 14 shots for the game, but BU goalkeeper Valentina Cerda made eight saves to keep the Blue Devils off the board.

"We knew today was going to be a battle," said head coach Pam Bustin. "We knew we had to stay on task and just hammer it out, and the kids really did that. We had some great scoring opportunities, but Boston University played great defense and their goalkeeper played a good game. Their defense challenged us, and I'm exceptionally proud of the way we stayed on task."

Despite Duke leading in both shots (12-1) and penalty corners (7-0) through regulation, Boston University's defense was able to do just enough to keep the Blue Devils without a goal following 70 minutes of play. But the Blue Devils' persistent attack paid off early in overtime as junior Devon Gagliardi found Jennings on the right side at the top of the circle and the senior from Macungie, Pa., drilled the shot to give Duke the win.

"It was a beautiful two-on-two with Devon [Gagliardi] and Tara [Jennings]," added Bustin. "Devon split the two defenders at the perfect time, and Tara pulled right and moved the goalkeeper. It was a heck of a shot."

After three straight road games, Duke returns to Williams Field this weekend to take on Maryland and James Madison. The Blue Devils and the Terrapins square off in an ACC bout Saturday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. Duke steps out of conference to play James Madison Sunday, Oct. 9 with game time again set for 1 p.m.

-d-u-k-e-