Blue Devils Drop Home Opener to North Carolina, 4-0

Sunday, October 4

Durham, N.C.

Noon

Duke University

(0-3, 0-2)

North Carolina

(2-1, 1-1)

North Carolina

Duke

Blue Devils Drop Home Opener to North Carolina, 4-0

10/4/2020 4:00:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke field hockey fell to North Carolina, 4-0, in the home opener on Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, the Blue Devils move to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in ACC action while the Tar Heels improve to 2-1 and 1-1.

"I don't think the score was indicative of the kind of game Duke played today," said head coach Pam Bustin. "I thought at times, we controlled the game and our team worked hard, but we're young. We're learning that if you go off the game plan or are making decisions in critical moments that puts the team at risk, you're going to pay the price against any team in the ACC."

Senior Lily Posternak registered the first shot for Duke in the contest in the 13th minute, but North Carolina's Amanda Hendry tallied a save. Less than a minute later, the Tar Heels' Erin Matson connected with the back of the cage on an individual effort for a 1-0 advantage.

Trailing 1-0 going into the second half, the Blue Devils took their final shots in the third frame as freshmen Darcy Bourne and Alayna Burns each looked to put Duke on the board.

North Carolina went on to score a goal in the third and two in the fourth to secure a 4-0 victory.

The third tally for the Tar Heels came after Eva Nunnink did well to make a defensive save, but a North Carolina attacker was right on the doorstep to put it back over the line for the 3-0 lead.

"It's crazy to think that one of the highlights of the game was the goalkeeper when the score was 4-0, but I thought Piper played great today," said Bustin. "I also thought our defensive corners were fantastic, but we just can't give up that many."

Defensively, Freshman Piper Hampsch faced 17 shots in the game, including nine on goal, and made four saves. Nunnink recorded her first defensive save as a Blue Devil.

The Blue Devils have nearly two weeks off before hosting Boston College on Friday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. and traveling down the road for a 1 p.m. matchup at North Carolina on Sunday, Oct. 18.

#GoDuke