North Carolina will borrow Duke’s Jack Katz Stadium for home games this fall as its athletic facilities undergo major renovations, but the Blue Devils made sure to claim supremacy on their shared home field for the time being Saturday.
Senior forward Ashley Kristen scored just 85 seconds into the game to lift Duke to a 1-0 victory in its final exhibition of the fall. Goalie Sammi Steele had nine saves to keep the Tar Heels off the board after the Blue Devils split two contests with their rivals last year.
“In this point of preseason, to have a game that competitive and to have the effort and the energy from both teams out there for 70 minutes is really impressive,” Duke head coach Pam Bustin said. “We just held our composure and kept up our focus and the goals that we set for the game in spite of or within the real high level of competition.”
The lone goal of the day came just after the opening whistle—senior Ainsley Gill got a shot off at North Carolina goalie Amanda Hendry and the rebound rolled to Kristen in the middle of a crowd in front of the net. She pushed the shot past Hendry from point-blank range.
“We were just working the ball around and we’re really focusing on the hot box this year around the net,” Kristen said. “We’re just trying to get on the rebounds and finish.”
Both teams had chances to add to the scoreline in the final 68 minutes of the game, finishing with 12 shots apiece, and the Tar Heels’ best chance to equalize came in the last two minutes.
North Carolina forward Malin Evert fired a shot off a penalty corner that Steele parried away, but the Tar Heels got the ball back and earned another penalty corner seconds later. Evert got another clean look at the goal, but Steele denied her again, laying on her side on the ground to make the save.
Steele also made a save with a shot from North Carolina’s Eva van’t Hoog deflecting off her shin guards in the closing minutes.
The redshirt sophomore goalie was the only Blue Devil to play all 70 minutes, and Duke got everyone on its roster into the game except its reserve goalies.
“We got everybody in, all 20 kids. The only one, I felt was important for Sammi to get her feet under her with the whole game and with the pressure of the game,” Bustin said. “It says a lot about the talent we have on this team.”
The Blue Devils earned three penalty corners in the first half but could not convert on any of them. Their second half was highlighted by three shots from reserve forward Erin Scherrer, including a chance from close range in front of the net that Hendry saved.
Bustin started five seniors and played her only other senior, defender Stephanie Pezzutti, off the bench for 31 minutes. The only freshman to see the field for more than 30 minutes was midfielder Lily Posternak, but the scrimmage still capped a preseason of a lot of change for Duke.
Former associate head coach Jarred Martin left to take the head coaching job at Ohio State after working under Bustin for 10 years, and Duke is also replacing volunteer assistant Valerie Dahmen, with Ralph Boersma and Tracey Griesbaum joining the staff this offseason.
“It allows some growth maybe for a program and for me as a head coach to kind of reevaluate where we’re at, what kind of changes I want to make,” Bustin said. “I couldn’t be more pleased and feel very fortunate to have the coaching staff and the strengths that they have, and the passion that they have for the game.”
After scrimmaging against Davidson last week and beating North Carolina in their second exhibition, the Blue Devils will turn their attention to another week of practice. Then, the regular season begins next Friday at William & Mary, with Duke hoping to lay the foundation for a Final Four run this fall after a disappointing NCAA tournament quarterfinal exit in 2016.
“It’s definitely nice to have UNC so close to us to play such high-level field hockey right before the season,” Kristen said. “It’s an awesome way to start.”
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