Old Dominion Edges Duke 3-2 in Double OT

Sunday, September 18

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Old Dominion

Le Marchand Named ACC Player of the Week

Old Dominion Edges Duke 3-2 in Double OT

9/18/2011 4:56:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Sophomore Emmie Le Marchand scored two goals in the second half and the sixth-ranked Duke field hockey team battled No. 2 Old Dominion to a 2-2 tie through the end of regulation and one overtime period before the Lady Monarchs registered the gamewinner in the 94^th minute to down the Blue Devils 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Williams Field.

Undefeated Old Dominion picked up its seventh win of the season to improve to 7-0, while Duke drops to 5-3 with the loss. Sunday's contest also marked the Blue Devils' third overtime game this season, and first to reach double overtime, as Duke is now 1-2 this season in extra-session matches.

“We're still convincing ourselves that we are one of those top teams, and that we have the ability to be one of those teams,” said head coach Pam Bustin. “After today, [we] showed it. We have to keep practicing the finish. We have to keep practicing believing it until the very end. It was a game today. A good team ended up scoring at the end and it could've gone either way. But that's what we have to learn: how to get better from teams like this and from competition like this. I think we will.”

The first half was tightly contested between the two teams as Old Dominion narrowly outshot Duke 5-2 in the opening period. The Blue Devils' best scoring opportunity of the first stanza came in the 25^th minute as Duke found freshman Martine Chichizola in the circle, but the Lady Monarch's goalkeeper came up with the save to preserve the early shutout.

Old Dominion broke the scoreless tie at the 29:00 mark as Lady Monarch leading scorer Emma Batten registered an unassisted goal from the left side to put ODU up 1-0.

Duke stepped up the intensity in the second half, and the effort paid off as the Blue Devils tied the game at 1-1 in the 42^nd minute. Junior Devon Gagliardi hit the ball from the top of the circle and Le Marchand redirected it into the ODU cage to knot the score at one-all early in the second half.

However, Old Dominion was quick to respond with Maartje van Rijswijk regaining the lead for the Lady Monarchs just over a minute later off a pass from Batten.

The Blue Devils kept their composure despite the quick momentum shift and Le Marchand again tied the game off a deflection in front of the cage for her second goal of the day. Junior Mary Nielsen assisted on the play, giving Le Marchand, who leads Duke with seven goals on the season, a pass from the top of the circle.

The score would remain tie at two through the end of regulation and the conclusion of the first 15-minute sudden victory overtime period. Halfway through the second overtime session, ODU was able to break through the Duke defense with Kati Nearhouse delivering the gamewinner from four yards out.

Duke goalkeeper Samantha Nelson turned in a solid performance, stopping nine shots on the afternoon. Old Dominion outshot the Blue Devils 17-8 for the game, including a 7-1 advantage in the two overtime periods.

“Our press was fantastic today, and the way [we] worked as a unit,” added Bustin. “That's something we've been trying to improve on; everyone wants the ball, but sometimes you have to be a little bit patient to earn the ball. Today we slid, we played our lines and we were really patient in when we should close in the space. I thought our backfield organization was awesome. Everybody contributed today. It was really positive in that we stayed on it. We just stayed with it, and that's what we have to do.”

The Blue Devils return to conference play next weekend, traveling to nearby Chapel Hill, N.C., for a 1 p.m., start Saturday Sept. 24.

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