Field Hockey Concludes Season in NCAA Quarterfinals

Sunday, November 16

Chapel Hill, N.C.

2:00 PM

Duke University

North Carolina (NCAA Second Round)

Blue Devils Headed to USAFH National Championship

Field Hockey Concludes Season in NCAA Quarterfinals

11/16/2014 4:41:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Redshirt junior goalkeeper Lauren Blazing notched a season-high 13 saves but the Blue Devils were unable to slow down one of the nation's top offenses, falling to top-ranked North Carolina, 3-0, Sunday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship.

Head coach Pam Bustin's squad concludes the 2014 campaign with a final record of 13-7 after making its second consecutive appearance in the tournament quarterfinals.

“Every team goes through some adversity, but to do it with the youth that we have and some of the inexperience, it's awesome that we're even sitting here today,” Bustin said. “It's something that our program strives for every year, and for this group to carry on that championship experience and championship drive makes me so proud. This experience that these seniors led us to is only going to help the future of Duke field hockey.”

Squaring off for the third time in less than a month, both teams came out firing from the opening whistle, placing shots on goal inside the first seven minutes of play. Duke drew a pair of early attack penalty corners but was unable to convert on either attempt. Blazing anchored the defense against a barrage of shots by the Tar Heels over the remainder of the period, knocking away a deflection with her glove and making a diving stick save on a North Carolina penalty corner.

The Tar Heels drew four more attack penalty corners in the first period and broke through at the 31:10 mark as forward Loren Shealy put back a rebound off of an initial offering by teammate Nina Notman. Shealy's score gave the home team a 1-0 advantage going into the locker room at the half.

North Carolina led in shots by an 11-2 margin in the first 35 minutes and totaled six penalty corners to two by the Blue Devils.

Blazing continued to shine in the second half, keeping the deficit at one with four more saves. The Blue Devils generated a couple of opportunities 10 minutes into the period on two penalty corners, but had looks by freshman Alyssa Chillano and junior Hannah Barreca turned away by the Tar Heel defense.

“I thought Lauren did a great job today,” Bustin said. “She kept us in the game and we had our chances to create some attacking opportunities with some wonderful saves by Lauren. You can only withstand so much pressure for so long when a team is playing as well as the Tar Heels did today.”

North Carolina doubled its lead in the 57th minute when Casey Di Nardo and Emma Bozek caught Blazing in a two-on-one in front of the cage, and Bozek tapped in a rebound off of a shot by Di Nardo. The Tar Heels added a final score with less than four minutes remaining as Emily Wold assisted Bozek on her second of the contest.

“At this level, defense takes a lot of practice and a lot of experience to solidify it and to keep it consistent,” Bustin said. “At times, either physically or mentally, you can have some moments of fatigue. And if you're not as experienced in how to handle it, a good team like North Carolina will find it. And that's exactly what they did today.”

Duke's Aileen Johnson broke into the circle on the next possession but the Blue Devils were unable to capitalize in the waning minutes. The squad was held scoreless for just the second time on the season.

For the contest, North Carolina held a 23-7 advantage in shots and finished with seven penalty corners while Duke had four. Shannon Johnson had two saves for the Tar Heels (19-3), who advance to face fellow ACC institution Syracuse in the NCAA semifinals next weekend in College Park, Md.

Sunday's NCAA quarterfinal match represented the final game for Duke's three-member senior class of Abby Beltrani, Jessica Buttinger and Martine Chichizola. The group guided the Blue Devils to a pair of NCAA quarterfinals trips (2011, 2014) and a title match appearance (2013).

--- NOTES ---

- Buttinger concluded her career tied for 18th on the program's all-time points list (69) and ranked 19th in career goals (27).

- Beltrani rounded out her career tied for 24th all-time at Duke in career assists (17).

- The Blue Devils reached the 13-win mark for the third time in four years under the direction of head coach Pam Bustin.

#GoDuke