Penalty Corners Send Duke Past Indiana, 3-2

Friday, August 25

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

(1-0)

Indiana

(0-1)

Indiana

Duke University

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Penalty Corners Send Duke Past Indiana, 3-2

8/25/2023 9:52:00 PM | Field Hockey

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DURHAM – Three different Blue Devils scored as Duke held off a comeback effort to dispatch Indiana, 3-2, in the 2023 field hockey season opener at Williams Field Friday night. The Blue Devils scored twice off penalty corners in the triumph.

Sophomores Alaina McVeigh and Macy Szukics along with junior Kira Curland provided the scoring for the Blue Devils. Hannah Miller and Charlie van Oirschot both had two assists.

How it Happened

The Blue Devils nabbed an early lead as Curland notched her first of the season with a hit off Duke's second penalty corner. Miller pushed the ball in and van Oirschot stopped it to set up Curland for her second goal as a Blue Devil.
Duke continued to find success on offense, firing four shots in the opening session and holding Indiana without a look on goal.
Despite outshooting the Hoosiers, 5-2, in the second quarter, Duke was unable to get that crucial second goal. With time ticking close to halftime, Indiana earned a penalty corner with 1:35 left. Sarah Charley got a clean hit off and was deflected in by a Duke stick to even the score, 1-1, at the break.
Duke came out on the front foot in the third quarter and scored twice in a span of five minutes to go ahead, 3-1. It was Szukics this time stepping up on the penalty corner, firing her shot just inside the left post for a 2-1 advantage. Miller and van Oirschot again were credited with the assists.
Five minutes later, sophomore Brynn Crouse intercepted an outlet pass from Indiana and dribbled her way into the circle. McVeigh raced into the circle to take the pass and find the back of the cage for her first collegiate goal and two-goal lead for the Blue Devils.
Indiana refused to back down, putting the Blue Devils on their heels in the final couple of minutes of the third quarter. Maggie Carter pulled the Hoosiers within one in the 42nd minute, sneaking a shot past the near post from the endline.
The Hoosiers seemingly tied the game with no time left on the clock as they earned a penalty stroke call off a penalty corner. Indiana's Sydney Keld put her shot past Duke goalie Piper Hampsch, but after a review the referee disallowed the stroke, leaving the Blue Devils ahead 3-2.
Duke closed out the final 15 minutes, outshooting Indian 4-1. The Blue Devils outshot the Hoosiers 15-8 for the game and won the penalty corner battle, 6-5.
Hampsch finished with two saves on the night, while Indiana's two goalies combined for eight.

Notes

With two assists Hannah Miller moves to 20th in Duke history with 21 career assists. She now has 71 career points, becoming the 21st player in program history to amass 70 points in a career.
The Blue Devils improve to 37-14-2 all-time in season openers and 10-3 under Pam Bustin.

Up Next

Duke hits the road for the ACC/Big 10 Cup next weekend in College Park, Md. The Blue Devils face No. 3 Maryland, Sept. 1 and No. 2 Northwestern, Sept. 3.

Quotes

Pam Bustin on the game
"I'm extremely proud of this team. I'm proud of the pace of play we were able to sustain the entire game. I'm proud of the level-headedness for the majority of the game the majority of us kept. When we were man-down they played brilliantly. We kept possession and had some scoring opportunities so there are parts of the game where we've been wanting to improve and tonight, we had a chance to show that we have learned to improve and play it smarter. I'm happy about the penalty corner execution on the attack. There was a lot [to be proud of]. Indiana is a dangerous team with some exceptional players, and I thought their defense held strong and really put a lot of pressure on the attack, which made it hard for us to get clean looks at the goal cage. So that's an area we want to improve on – how can we play when it's more crowded and there are a few more bodies in there. I'm just really pleased they won their first game of 2023 on their own field.

On finishing the game in the fourth quarter
"This is what we're trying to do – stay in the moment of what is necessary. We have to stay in the moment of what's necessary because what just happened, we can't change. We have no idea what's going to happen next unless we stay in it. I think the connection amongst the team showed that. It wasn't just one or two it was anybody on the field who was connected in that thought process."

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