The field hockey team did everything in pairs this weekend in its trip to Williamsburg, Va., taking on Harvard (5-7) on Saturday and William and Mary (5-9) on Sunday.
Not only did the No. 19 Blue Devils (9-5, 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) record back-to-back wins, but they won both games with an identical 4-2 score. Co-captain Melissa Panasci scored two goals in each game, and junior Mary Jo Reider scored twice, both on penalty strokes, in the game against Harvard.
Panasci was impressed with the team's performance this weekend, despite the fact that it played in rain and downpours in each game.
"Considering the conditions, we played really well." Panasci said. "It was sloppy, but we [dealt] with what we had."
Duke took control of the game against Harvard, taking a 4-0 lead before the Crimson managed to score two goals in the second half. Reider had two penalty strokes, one at the beginning of each half, and converted both of them.
"It is really tough to score against the same goalkeeper twice on penalty strokes, but [Reider] changed her strategy on the second one and converted it," coach Liz Tchou said.
Panasci scored the other two goals for Duke, both on penalty corners.
Tchou thought that the team could have come out stronger against the Crimson.
"The Harvard game was a little tentative at first," Tchou said. "They're a tough team with strong and very spirited players."
Torrential rain did not stop the Blue Devils from winning their second game against William & Mary on Sunday. Duke had numerous breakaways in the first half, but was stopped by Tribe goalie Bridget Gavaghan, who finished the game with 18 saves.
An unassisted goal by junior Emily Ford and an unstoppable shot from Panasci on a penalty corner gave Duke a 2-0 lead at halftime, but the Tribe's Molly Radcliffe scored just three minutes into the second half to close the gap to 2-1.
About ten minutes later, Duke answered back. Assisted by Ford and senior co-captain Cyndi Breyer on a penalty corner, Panasci fired the ball into the goal, putting the game out of reach for William & Mary. That goal marked the fourth time over the weekend that Ford, Breyer and Panasci combined for a goal.
For her fifth assist of the weekend, Breyer passed the ball to Reider, who put the ball into the goal cage for Duke's final goal of the game.
While Tchou is not sure if the two wins will make a difference in their ranking for the NCAA tournament beginning in mid-November, it is most likely that one or two losses this weekend would have eliminated the Blue Devils from the tournament altogether.
Duke's next game comes at home against No. 2 Maryland this Friday.
"We are the strongest we've been all year," Panasci said. "We're definitely ready to take on Maryland."
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