BOSTON - Playing in front of friends and family, Massachusetts natives Keri Dunn and Sarah Doherty came up big Sunday to give the field hockey team a 3-2 victory on penalty strokes over Boston University, and a split of its two-game road trip.
With the two schools tied 2-2 after four strokes, Dunn, who hails from Scituate, Mass., laced a low shot past Terrier goalie Maureen Flanagan into the corner of the goal. Doherty, of Harwich on Cape Cod, then made a diving save to rob Tina McDavitt, clinching the win for Duke and launching her teammates, and their many fans at Dickerson Field, into celebration.
"I think we really picked it up," Doherty said of the No. 12 Blue Devils (7-5), who were coming off a 4-2 loss to unranked Boston College. "I'm really proud of our whole team. I think we were unbelievable, and we deserved to win this game. I really think that we worked really hard for it, and it was really nice to come out with the win."
The penalty strokes became necessary after neither team could break a 2-2 tie through a pair of 15-minute, sudden death overtime periods. Duke nearly came away with the victory in the waning seconds of the second OT off a penalty corner. Melissa Panasci launched a shot toward the goal, which a Blue Devil player appeared to deflect into the goal. But the umpire ruled that the ball was knocked in by Corey Ceccolinis' foot, and disallowed the score.
The ensuing penalty strokes were Duke's first since Liz Tchou became head coach at the beginning of last season, and the Blue Devils only occasionally practice them.
"Of course, as a coach, you're like, 'Why didn't you have them practice more strokes?'" Tchou said, laughing. "But right when they came off the field after the second OT, they were like, 'You guys, we want this game. We deserved this game. We worked very hard.' They couldn't have given any more. They really showed their personality on the field and they were really into. I think they just weren't going to lose. They had that mindset."
Each team had to choose five different players to go one-on-one with the opposing goalie. Ceccolini led off for Duke and flipped the ball over Flanagan into the upper left-hand corner of the goal. Doherty proceeded to block a low shot by BUs Sharon Eifes, giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead through the first round. But after Flanagan made a diving save on Panasci, Christine Burns smoked a low shot past Doherty to even the score.
Duke's Mary Jo Reider and the Terriers' Jaclyn Mele exchanged goals, then Kim Susko missed wide for the Blue Devils and Doherty made a glove save to rob Kimberly Kos, setting up Dunn's heroics.
Duke held a 2-1 lead late in regulation, but couldn't hold on. With 3:44 remaining, Eifes tied the game for unranked BU (6-6), off a penalty corner. Kos and Mele were credited with the assists.
Neither team had been able to find the goal in the first half, thanks to the work of Doherty and Flanagan The two goalies frustrated offensive players all game long, combining for 23 saves, including five each in OT.
The Blue Devils finally broke through 16:01 into the second, with Dunn and Cyndi Breyer assisting Panasci. BU, however, answered with 10:49 to go in the game to tie the score at 1-1. Mele hit the ball in to Kos, who stopped it for Eifes. But instead of shooting, the senior back passed back to Mele, who had snuck in behind the Duke defense and knocked in the goal. Just over two minutes later, the Blue Devils jumped back into the lead on Reider's hard shot, the assists going to Breyer and Panasci.
Duke was facing the Terriers less than 24 hours after being upset by BC at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill. The Eagles (8-4) grabbed a 2-0 halftime advantage on penalty-corner goals by Marion Fitzgerald and Joy Ramsbotham. Emily Ford scored an unassisted goal 20:29 into the second half to pull the Blue Devils within one, but Ramsbotham converted another penalty corner with 10:59 remaining to stretch BC's lead back to two.
Twenty seconds after Ford knocked in her second goal of the game, the Eagles' Julianne Marrone scored with 6:58 to go for the final 4-2 margin.
"BC played really well," Tchou said. "I felt like they came out with a strong game plan. They really came out strong, and it just took a while to adjust. Even when I thought we adjusted, it was kind of in spurts."
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