Duke Rally Falls Short at No. 12 Louisville

Friday, October 3

Louisville, Ky.

6:00 PM

Duke University

Louisville

Duke Rally Falls Short at No. 12 Louisville

10/3/2014 8:26:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Despite leading the ACC in shutouts and goals against average coming into the week, the fourth-ranked Blue Devils struggled to contain No. 12 Louisville in a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals Friday evening at Trager Stadium. The setback dropped Duke to 8-2 for the season and 1-2 in conference play.

Following a chaotic first half which saw the Cardinals go up by two goals, Duke came out with the upper hand in the second period. After just missing on a dangerous look from sophomore midfielder Hunter Bracale, the visiting squad broke through in the 49th minute as senior forward Martine Chichizola turned and fired off of her back foot to pull the Blue Devils within one.

A few possessions later, the attack earned two more corner opportunities but was turned away once again by Louisville goalkeeper Sydney King. The Blue Devils played with great urgency in the waning minutes, pulling redshirt junior goalkeeper Lauren Blazing from the cage after withstanding two more penalty corner situations on their own defensive end. However, the attack was unable to generate a score on its final corner opportunity and Louisville ran out the clock for the victory in the first ACC meeting between the two schools.

The Cardinals edged Duke in shots for the contest, 11-10. The Blue Devils held an 8-6 advantage in penalty corners, but Louisville capitalized on two of its opportunities en route to collecting the one-goal win.

Both teams pushed the tempo from the opening whistle, moving the ball up quickly to penetrate the circle. The Cardinals earned the first corner opportunity 11 minutes into the contest and after an initial save by Blazing, got on the board on a follow-up corner as Erin McCrudden put back a rebound shot.

The Blue Devil defense surrendered another score just minutes later as Elisa Garcia converted on a penalty corner hit. The two-goal deficit marked the largest of the season for Duke, which did not allow a tally in its previous two wins.

The attack generated activity toward the end of the opening period and drew an offensive penalty corner with time expiring, but could not get past the Louisville defense on two more shot attempts.

King finished with six stops in goal for the Cardinals while Blazing had three saves at the other end for Duke.

Duke continues its road swing Sunday, Oct. 5 in a noon contest at Indiana. The match will be broadcast on BTN Plus ($).

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