Corey Ceccolini knew she had to score a lot of goals for the field hockey team this season. But the junior didn't realize that five games into the season, she'd be scoring all of the goals.
With 1:40 left in sudden-death overtime, Ceccolini knocked in her fifth goal of the season and second of the night, giving No. 13 Duke a 2-1 victory over Wake Forest at the East Campus Turf Field.
Ceccolini and forward Keri Dunn scrambled for shots in front of the Wake goal as overtime ran down. After successive shots, Dunn dished the ball to Ceccolini, who swept it into the net with her reverse stick.
"It happened so fast," Ceccolini said. "It was four shots right in a row and the two of us were just banging [the goalie's] pads."
For years, Duke and Wake Forest (1-4, 0-1 in the ACC) have battled as conference rivals. Last night marked the latest in a string of victories for Duke (3-2, 1-0), which has accumulated a five-game winning streak against the Demon Deacons.
"Wake's a great team," Tchou said. "Whenever we play it's a dogfight."
After a scoreless
Marchell's goal sparked the Blue Devil offense, which had beaten Wake Forest 9-1 when the teams faced off last year on East Campus. Less than two minutes after the Demon Deacon goal, the Blue Devils converted a penalty corner, tying the score 1-1.
Courtney Sommer and Emily Ford passed the ball to Ceccolini, who sent a hard drive past Wake goalie Megan Nitka.
Duke outshot Wake Forest the rest of the half, ending the game with 16 shots as opposed to the Deacons' nine.
"We really picked it up," Ceccolini said. "It was the spark we needed. From the minute we scored, we dominated."
Duke was unable to capitalize on any scoring opportunities, however, and ended regulation tied at one. In field hockey, in the case of a tie, play moves into a 15-minute overtime with seven players, including the goalie, on each side. Because each team fields 11 players ordinarily, the seven on the field during overtime have to run extra distances.
"Going into it, you know it's going to be tiring," Ceccolini said. "It came down to which team was in better shape."
With fewer players on each side, the overtime period provided more scoring opportunities, exciting the crowd of predominantly first-time field hockey fans as well as the teams.
"It's crazy," Tchou said of watching from the sideline. "They drive me crazy."
Both teams had several corners and shots in the circle before Ceccolini and Dunn were able to put the game away.
At this point, Ceccolini has nearly equaled the seven goals she scored all of last season.
"It just so happens that I've been the lucky one," Ceccolini said of her five goals in five games. "I'm very happy that I've been scoring but I really want everybody else to get on board. I can't wait for everyone to contribute."
The Blue Devils will get that opportunity Sunday at 1 p.m. when they take on James Madison at the East Campus Turf Field.
Christina Petersen contributed to this story.
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