No. 20 Duke Falls to No. 12 Liberty

Sunday, October 3

Lynchburg, Va. / Liberty Field Hockey Field

1 P.M.

Duke University

(4-7)

Liberty

(8-2)

Duke

Liberty

Photo by: Liberty University

No. 20 Duke Falls to No. 12 Liberty

10/3/2021 5:00:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score BOX SCORE Photo Gallery

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The 12th-ranked Liberty field hockey team used a pair of first-quarter goals to propel it to a 5-2 victory over No. 20 Duke Sunday afternoon.

The Blue Devils fall to 4-7 overall, while Liberty improves to 8-2 on the year. All of Duke's setbacks have come against top 15 opponents this season.

After some quality hockey from the Blue Devils in the opening few minutes, the Flames jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with goals in the seventh and ninth minutes.
The first came after an initial save from Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch bounced to her right and Danielle Rhodes tapped it in. The second came off a tip in from the right side of the cage on a penalty corner.

Liberty outshot the Blue Devils 7-1 in the opening quarter with Hampsch finishing with two saves in the early going.

Duke cut the lead in half early in the second quarter on a penalty stroke by Lexi Davidson. The veteran defender has never missed a penalty stroke in her career, going 7-of-7 from the dot. Senior Leah Crouse earned the penalty stroke taking a pass from Eva Nunnink from the defensive third and making her way into the circle. Beating the Liberty back, Crouse drew the Liberty goalie off the line and was fouled resulting in the stroke.

The Blue Devils, possessing the ball better, held the Flames to just two shots in the period and no corners after giving up seven and three, respectively, in the opening 15 minutes.

Liberty came out and extended its lead back to two in the third quarter as Martu Cian scored right in front of the cage after a pass from Rhodes on a penalty corner.

Once again, Duke battled back as rookie Logan Clouser scored on a rebound in front of the cage for her second career score to make it 3-2 in the 52nd minute. Hannah Miller sent the ball into the middle of the circle from the endline where Crouse got the first stick on it. The ball bounced in Clouser's direction and the rookie forward tapped it in to make it 3-2 with under eight minutes to play.

Despite increased pressure from the Blue Devils, Liberty answered two minutes later to pull back in front by two and then notched a final minute score for the 5-2 win.

Hampsch finished with three saves in nearly 40 minutes of action, while Grace Brightbill had two saves in the final 20 minutes. Liberty held a 17-12 advantage in shots. Duke earned five corners to the Flames' six.

The Blue Devils close their four-game road stretch at North Carolina, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. Duke returns home to host Old Dominion, Oct. 10 at 12 p.m.

#GoDuke