Five games into the field hockey team's season, all six of its goals had been scored by the same person.
And while No. 9 Duke may not have beaten No. 7 Maryland this weekend, at least many different people put the ball in the goal cage.
Start with Caroline Helwig, who scored three goals this weekend. Or Angie North, Emily Ford and Jennelle Moore, who each scored once. That may not have been silver lining for the Blue Devils, but it did contribute to a weekend split.
Saturday against the Terps (10-5, 3-1 in the ACC) in College Park, Md., the Blue Devils were unable to capture their first conference win, losing 7-3. Sunday, Duke (8-6, 0-3) toppled Virginia Commonwealth 3-0 in Charlottesville, Va.
Coming off an upset of then-No. 7 Delaware, the Blue Devils struck first against the Terrapins. With 23:49 left in the first half, Maryland's goalie blocked Corey Ceccolini's shot on a penalty corner, and Helwig sent the ball into the cage off the goalie's pads.
"We scored first, which was a positive," Tchou said. "We kept it close for a while."
Maryland, coming off its own upset of then-No. 1 North Carolina, followed with three goals, but Duke was able to score once more before the end of the half. On a play similar to Duke's first goal, Moore converted a penalty corner off of the goalie's pads.
"We took advantage of their defense on corners," Helwig said.
In the end, though, it was the Terrapins who dominated on corners. Early in the second half, Caroline Walter sent two balls past Jenn Robb on penalty corners two minutes apart.
"They took advantage of the corners," Tchou said. "[Walter] was really hitting them well, straight shots right into the corner-there was no way for [Robb] to save them."
Maryland, known in previous years for using tricky plays on penalty corners, was able to convert on straight shots.
"Their corner shot is amazing," Helwig said. "Their shot was off before we could rush in."
Down 5-2 with about 20 minutes left in the game, the Blue Devils decided to push up and attack. Maryland took that opportunity to exploit Duke's defense, scoring two more goals in the second half. With three minutes left in the game, Ford put Duke on the board one more time, but it was not nearly enough.
The Blue Devils rebounded Sunday, shutting out VCU (7-9) in Charlottesville. Helwig, a redshirt junior, scored twice in the first half.
"She's been a workhorse all year," Tchou said of Helwig. "She's been a great person to have on the team. She goes all-out all the time."
North scored the final goal of the game off of an assist from Ceccolini. With seven saves, Robb recorded her third shutout of the year.
"We didn't play as consistently as we could have against VCU," Tchou said. "But we battled and scored three goals. Apparently our passing game was working for us."
The Blue Devils can now look forward to a two-week homestand, which begins Friday, during which they will face Yale, Boston College and Virginia.
"It makes a big difference, especially this time of year," Tchou said. "This time of the season you start to get anxious. We have to get back to our attitude at the beginning of the season. We can just get back to playing the way we can play-doing the simple well."
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