Morris Hat Trick Leads Duke Past William & Mary, 6-2

Sunday, September 13

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

Duke University

William & Mary

Morris Hat Trick Leads Duke Past William & Mary, 6-2

9/13/2015 4:00:00 PM | Field Hockey

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Junior Heather Morris found the back of the cage three times and freshman Rose Tynan twice to guide fourth-ranked Duke to a 6-2 victory over William & Mary Sunday at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. The Blue Devils moved to 4-2 on the year following the non-conference win.

Sophomore forward Ashley Kristen added a career-high three assists as Duke turned in its highest scoring output of the 2015 season.

After surrendering a 2-1 loss to No. 12 Wake Forest Friday evening, the Blue Devils wasted little time in getting on the board Sunday afternoon. Junior Robin Blazing slid in a feed from Kristen at the back post a little over two minutes into the contest, recording her second goal of the season. The Tribe responded later in the half when leading scorer Pippin Saunders put away a reverse to even the match at 1-1.

Duke then shored up its defensive effort and regained the lead in the 22nd minute. William & Mary's Erin Menges made a defensive save on an initial shot by Morris on a penalty corner, but Morris was able to play in a ball from Kristen at the front of the cage. The Blue Devils would take the 2-1 lead into the locker room at halftime after outshooting William & Mary 9-3 in the first 35 minutes.

“We wanted to connect a little more and pass stick-to-stick,” Morris said. “Ashley [Kristen] gave me a great pass to score the goal, so she set me up perfectly. I think we did a really good job just going around them and connecting.”

The Tribe drew a penalty corner at the start of the second half and went on to generate a couple more dangerous opportunities at that end of the field. However, Duke's back line limited looks inside the circle, setting the team up for its third score of the day, a hard reverse by Morris at the 55:07 mark. The Pottstown, Pa., native completed a hat trick less than two minutes later, finishing from the wing on a corner play with Kristen and senior Amanda Kim earning assists.

The hat trick was the second of Morris' career, as she put up three tallies in a win over Drexel Sept. 1, 2013.

“William & Mary is an attacking team and you have to pay attention to them throughout the entire match,” said head coach Pam Bustin. “They took advantage of moments where maybe we were just a little wrong-footed. But I thought Duke did a good job organizing and reorganizing and finding a way to get the structure back in the backfield. We got the structure back, regained our composure defensively and then were able to sustain the attack.”

Freshman forward Rose Tynan came on to continue the offensive barrage in the waning minutes. She collected her first goal in a Duke uniform in the 61st minute, extending the Blue Devils' lead to 5-1. Tynan added a second strike a short while later on an Ainsley Gill assist before Samantha Slattery of the Tribe converted on a penalty stroke inside the final three minutes to account for the 6-2 final score.

“First half, I thought we created some good attack, but we just weren't finishing it,” Bustin said. “We weren't keeping up the speed of our attack that we had generated above the circle into the circle. Second half, we made that adjustment and it opened things up. Today's second-half performance on the attack side of things is exactly what we've been waiting for and working for.”

Duke totaled 18 shots on the day to 10 by William & Mary and held a 6-3 advantage in penalty corners.

Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lauren Blazing notched five saves and junior Kelsey Wagner also saw time in the cage. Meredith Savage had three saves at the other end for the Tribe.

The Blue Devils next head to Charlottesville, Va., to take on conference opponent Virginia Friday at 6 p.m. The squad returns to Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium Sunday, Sept. 20 to host Old Dominion in a 1 p.m. contest on Blue Devil Network Plus.

--- NOTES ---

· The six-goal output was the highest for the program since the Blue Devils defeated New Hampshire, 6-1, in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament (Nov. 16, 2013 – Durham, N.C.).

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