Duke Beats American, 2-1; Advances to NCAA Quarterfinal

Friday, November 10

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

(17-4)

American

(11-8)

American

Duke University

Barb Civitella and Charlie van Oirschot celebrate a Duke field hockey goal

Photo by: Nat LeDonne / Duke Athletics

Duke Beats American, 2-1; Advances to NCAA Quarterfinal

11/10/2023 5:56:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM – Duke senior captain Barb Civitella scored in the 38th minute to lift the third-seeded Blue Devils to a 2-1 victory over American in the opening round of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship. The Blue Devils advance to the quarterfinals for the 15th time in program history.

Duke improves to 17-4 on the year and will face Syracuse (11-7) in the quarterfinal, Sunday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. American capped its season with an 11-8 mark.

Junior Issy Carey provided a goal and an assist in the victory while goalkeeper Piper Hampsch made two saves to secure her 17th win of the year.

How it Happened

The Blue Devils got on the board in the sixth minute when Carey redirected a hit from graduate student Hannah Miller from the left side of the circle. Senior Charlie van Oirschot started the momentum by picking the ball off an American player's stick and finding Miller in the middle of the field. The speedy forward raced into the box and a streaking Carey made her run to the far post to tip the ball across the line for her second goal of the season.
Duke continued to dominate the run of play throughout the next 25 minutes but couldn't find the back of the cage again, holding a 1-0 lead at the break. The Blue Devils held a 4-0 shot advantage in the first half and earned two penalty corners.
American leveled the score five minutes into the third quarter on a rebound from a Hampsch save. Hampsch knocked away the initial shot from Boshoff, but the Blue Devils couldn't clear the ball away from danger and Imogen Hatton knocked it in for her first of the season.
Duke responded 2:29 seconds later when Carey's reverse hit from just inside the circle found Barb Civitella unmarked on the far post for the tap-in.
The Blue Devils kept the pressure on the American defense in the final minutes of the third quarter in search of a crucial third goal. Duke finished the period with six shots to American's two.
Hanging on to a 2-1 lead, Duke played steady defense in the fourth quarter and just missed the cage on a couple of chances on the offensive end of the field en route to the 2-1 victory.
The Blue Devils held American to just four shots, 10 below its season average of 14.3. Eagle goalie Brynn Underwood had six saves in 60 minutes of action.
Duke finished the afternoon with 14 shots and seven penalty corners compared to four and one for American, respectively.

Notes

Duke moves to 25-18 all-time in NCAA Tournament action and 15-4 in opening round games. This is the Blue Devils' first NCAA Tournament win since 2018.
The Blue Devils are 3-0 against American in NCAA postseason action and 10-3 in Durham.
The goals for Carey and Civitella both were their second of the year.
The victory for head coach Pam Bustin was the 161st at Duke. She is two wins away from passing Jacki Silar as the all-time winningest Duke field hockey coach.
Duke will meet Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
Hannah Miller's assist gives her 29 for her career, tied for 10th all-time at Duke. She has 93 career points to rank 13th overall. She is one of 15 players in program history to record at least 90 points in her career.
Piper Hampsch added two saves to give her 278 for her career.

Up Next

Duke hosts No. 11 Syracuse in the quarterfinal, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m., on ESPN+. Tickets are $5. Admission is free for Duke students and children 2 and under. The winner in Durham Sunday advances to the NCAA semifinal to play either Northwestern or Louisville.

To stay up to date with Duke field hockey follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeFH."
#GoDuke