Duke Bests No. 5 Louisville, 2-1, for 11th Straight Win

Friday, October 13

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

(13-1, 5-0)

Louisville

(12-2, 2-2)

Louisville

Duke University

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Bests No. 5 Louisville, 2-1, for 11th Straight Win

10/13/2023 7:42:00 PM | Field Hockey

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DURHAM – Duke junior Logan Clouser scored three minutes into the fourth quarter and the second-ranked Blue Devils held off a furious charge to upend fifth-ranked Louisville in a 2-1 win in ACC field hockey action Friday night. The Blue Devils scored two unanswered goals to rally to victory.

Duke (13-1, 5-0) has won a program-record 11 straight games and is 5-0 in conference play for the first time in school history. Louisville drops to 12-2 overall and 2-2 in league action.

Sophomore Alaina McVeigh registered the tying goal for the Blue Devils. Josephine Palde and Hannah Miller provided the assists on the first and second goals, respectively.

How it Happened

The opening half featured end-to-end action from both squads. The Blue Devils were on the front foot to start the game as McVeigh ripped a shot off the crossbar just 1:16 into the contest.
Duke continued to put pressure on the staunch Louisville defense, but the Cardinals stood tall to keep the Blue Devils off the scoreboard in the first 30 minutes.
Louisville gained good possession midway through the first quarter and finished the opening frame with four shots. Duke senior goalkeeper Piper Hampsch made two saves to keep the Cardinals off the board in the first half.
Louisville broke through with the first goal in the 39th minute as Rylie Wollerton redirected a pass from the stick of Chloe Cuzzupe.
Unfazed by the 1-0 deficit, Duke evened the score 3:57 later by forcing a Louisville turnover in its defensive third of the field. A double team from McVeigh and Kira Curland double forced the Cardinals into a tough pass under pressure. Palde stepped in for the interception and found McVeigh open. The Blue Devils' leading scorer dribbled into the circle and lifted her shot over the pads of the stellar Louisville goalie to make it 1-1 after three periods.
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Clouser put the Blue Devils ahead for good on a superb backhand shot to the near post. The tally started from the backline as Mary Harkins found Miller in the middle of the field with a long pass. The veteran playmaker dribbled her way out of pressure and found Clouser streaking down the left side. She lifted her head and ripped a shot past the near post for her fifth goal of the year and second game winner.
Duke was outstanding defensively down the stretch. Hampsch made a huge stop less than a minute later and the Blue Devils closed out the final four minutes under pressure of an extra attacker for Louisville. Hampsch finished her night with four saves.
Louisville held a slight 7-6 edge in shots, but only had one penalty corner despite averaging seven coming into the game. Duke had two penalty corners. Louisville goalie Merlijn Van Der Vegt had one stop.

Notes

Duke's 11-game win streak is the longest in program history, surpassing the previous mark of nine set in 2003.
The Blue Devils are 13-1, the best record through 14 games in Duke history. Duke is 5-0 in ACC play for the first time in school history. The Blue Devils finished 5-1 in 2016 and 2018.
Alaina McVeigh notched her 13th goal of the season. She is two goals away from moving into the top 25 of the single-season goals list.
Hannah Miller picked up her 28th career assist to move up to 11th on the Duke career chart. She has 90 career points – two away from tying for 13th in school history.
Piper Hampsch has a 0.97 goals against average, which currently ranks fourth in Duke single-season lore. Her four saves pushed her to within 13 of the top five in Blue Devil history.
Duke is just the second team to score multiple goals against the Cardinals this season.

Quotes

Logan Clouser on the winning goal
"I got one of those [same passes] about 10 minutes before and I mis-trapped it, but it was a beautiful ball. I just think the consistency and trust in our teammates to send those balls and trust them to work hard and that time I knew I couldn't mess it up. It's really rare to get a clean shot off in college with such great defense and such high competition that when you do you have to hit the ball the hardest you can. I swung as hard as I could and credit to all the beautiful connections we had on the field to allow us to get those opportunities."

Pam Bustin on facing adversity within the game
"There were things like we looked at the umpire and we may not have agreed with it, but we just got back and played whatever it was they were dictating. I'm really proud of us that we kept a really level head for the most part and the team was able to absorb that frustration and put it into good hockey."

Pam Bustin on Logan Clouser's goal
"It was gorgeous. We've been wanting her to pull the trigger when she has that space to do it and she did it with confidence and complete conviction today. I'm really happy to see that. I'm really glad it went in, but even her taking the chance to take the shot is something I'm really excited and proud about for her."

Up Next

Duke hosts No. 8 Virginia Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., on ACC Network. The Blue Devils close out their regular season home schedule Oct. 22 against UConn.

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