The season got off to a bit of a rough start for the field hockey team as the 18th-ranked Blue Devils (0-1) were handed a 7-0 shutout by No. 2 Old Dominion (1-0) in Virginia yesterday afternoon.
The Monarchs' Ashleigh Miller scored in the first minute of play, and Old Dominion took a 2-0 halftime lead before blowing open the game with five second-half goals.
"Old Dominion is a great team and they really took it to us," coach Liz Tchou said. "We were not as prepared as we could have been on the field."
Tchou said the game was closer than the score indicated, but the Blue Devils acknowledged Old Dominion was more than they could handle-at least at this point in the season.
"They were a really tough team," midfielder Mary Jo Reider said. "It was kind of a shock to us so I don't know if we were really ready for a team like that."
Duke was soundly beaten in more than just the score, as the Blue Devils were also outshot by the Monarchs, 19-1. Duke was not able to generate any penalty corners while Old Dominion had six.
Goalkeeper Jenn Robb saw plenty of action in her first career start for the Blue Devils. The junior stopped eight shots, while her counterpart for the Monarchs, Jamie Hill, only had one to turn aside.
But Duke will get a quick opportunity to turn things around. It travels to St. Louis this weekend to play in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Blue Devils face 20th-ranked Iowa on Saturday and No. 5 Penn State Monday.
"I'm glad we started at ODU," Tchou said. "We know exactly where we need to go. The whole experience will get us better. I know we got killed, but the kids are really psyched to come out and work on some things."
Anya Sostek contributed to this story.
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