No. 13 Duke Outlasts No. 9 Liberty, 2-1, in Overtime

Sunday, September 10

Durham, N.C.

1 p.m.

Duke University

(4-1)

Liberty

(5-1)

LIBERTY

Duke University

Alaina McVeigh celebrates scoring overtime winner

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 13 Duke Outlasts No. 9 Liberty, 2-1, in Overtime

9/10/2023 4:14:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM – Duke sophomore Alaina McVeigh scored with 48 seconds left in the first overtime to lift the 13th-ranked Blue Devils to a 2-1 victory over No. 9 Liberty in field hockey action on Williams Field Sunday afternoon.

Blue Devil sophomore Brynn Crouse tallied Duke's first goal in the fourth quarter before McVeigh netted the overtime winner. It was McVeigh's sixth goal of the season, while the Blue Devil defense held Liberty to just seven shots. The Flames came into the game averaging 14 shots per game.

How it Happened

McVeigh got the ball on the right side of the field and used a quick restart off the whistle to get to the baseline. From there she saw an opening on the far post and lifted it past the Liberty goaltender for the thrilling win.
It was an even match throughout the first 45 minutes with Duke holding a narrow 5-4 edge in shots. The Flames earned three penalty corners in the first three quarters, but the Blue Devils were up to the task of keeping Liberty off the board. Duke goalkeeper Piper Hampsch had three saves after 45 minutes.
The Blue Devils took control early in the fourth quarter and Crouse put Duke ahead in the 48th minute when she knocked down a save off a Macy Szukics shot on the penalty corner. Crouse, waiting on the doorstep, took the ball out of the air and put it away for her first goal of the season.
Liberty equalized five minutes later from a penalty corner, its lone of the quarter. Milagros Arteta had the redirect from Jodie Connolly to force overtime. Hampsch had a massive point-blank save with three minutes to finish the day with four.
The Flames appeared to score the winner just seconds into overtime, but the officials ruled the shot came from outside the circle giving Duke life.
Despite winning three consecutive penalty corners in overtime, the Blue Devils couldn't find the back of the cage as Liberty goalie Azuil Iritxity Irigoyen came up big numerous times with three saves in the extra session.
On the third penalty corner, the Flames blocked Logan Clouser's shot and sent an outlet pass to start a counterattack. Clouser raced back 50 yards, taking the ball off the Liberty player's stick, and giving Duke possession again and set up McVeigh for the winner.
Iritxity Irigoyen finished with seven saves as Duke outshot Liberty 15-7 for the game. The Blue Devils also won the penalty corner battle with seven to the Flames' four.

Notes

The win over Liberty is Duke's second top-10 victory of the season, the first time the Blue Devils have posted multiple top-10 wins since the 2019 season. It is the Blue Devils' first top-10 home win since April 10, 2021, while the 4-1 record is the best start to a season since 2019.
Alaina McVeigh has scored at least one goal in every game of her Duke career and has two game-winning goals.
Piper Hampsch's four saves push her to 219 for her career, 19 away from moving into the eighth in Duke history.
Hannah Miller made her 77th career start, leaving her eight shy of breaking the Duke career start record of 84.

Quotes

Alaina McVeigh on scoring the game winner
"I'm just really proud of how the team played today. We never stopped all working together and believing we could win that game. It was a full team effort and I'm proud of everyone for giving it their all."

McVeigh on what she saw leading up to her goal
"I saw open space on the baseline and decided to go for it and try to shoot the ball."

Pam Bustin on the overall game and the play of the game
"At some point everyone had to step up and bring us something because it was a long and really high-paced game and with players going out others had to step up and raise the bar. I'd say probably the play of the game for the win was Logan Clouser's recovery run. I think that was the play of the game. She recovered on that, cleanly got the ball, and started our counterattack, which led to, eventually, the goal. I'd say that was the play of the game, but the player of the game it was really a team effort."

Bustin on the defense
"We've been continuing to build our discipline and patience. Not getting impatient and allowing numbers to come under the ball to help. We focused on that greatly on that Friday night in the second half because I wasn't happy with it in the first half, and I'm so pleased they were able to bring it into today's match at this higher pace.

Bustin on how this win prepares the team moving forward
"This level of play in competition … we have to find the fight in us individually and as a team in every single game. Longwood [on Friday] wasn't ranked, but we had to come out and play our game because otherwise we're missing opportunities to get better. We just want to get better every day. We're a better team right now in that locker room than we were at the start of the game and we're going to try to improve that for Friday night [against Syracuse]."

Up Next

Duke closes its four-game homestand next weekend, hosting No. 7 Syracuse Sept. 15 at 6 p.m., and Old Dominion Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ACCNX.