Through the first 41:55 of the field hockey game last night, it appeared that Radford would pull the improbable upset and Duke would fall for the third game in a row. But it was not meant to happen.
Thanks to goals by sophomores Melissa Yuppa and Angie North and a dramatic penalty corner saved by senior Jenn Robb with no time on the clock, the Blue Devils (3-3) managed to pull out the 3-2 victory over the Highlanders (1-6) at Williams Field on East Campus.
"Coming off two games where we have had trouble scoring and were giving up a lot of goals, to come out with a win tonight was really good," coach Liz Tchou said. "I was a little disappointed in giving up a corner at the end of the game. I almost had a heart attack on that one."
Yuppa found the back of the net at the 28:05 mark of the second half on a wild scramble to knot the score at 2-2. The action went back and forth for the next 10 minutes before junior Courtney Sommer drove toward the box, drawing a penalty.
On the ensuing corner, North beat Radford goalie Brooke Peterson on a feed from senior Corey Ceccolini with 17:51 to play for what would turn out to be the game-winning goal.
This goal, however, did not end the hopes of Radford. With just 15 seconds left, the Highlanders drove the ball down the field and earned a penalty corner as time expired. In this case, the rules allow for the corner to be taken with no time on the clock.
It appeared the Blue Devil defense had made the stop, but the referee called a penalty on the last shot. Thus, the Highlanders had one final opportunity to tie the score. Fortunately for Duke, Robb was up to the challenge, as she batted away Radford's final attempt to even the score.
The game looked to be a Blue Devil rout in the early going. Robin Merritt notched the first goal of the contest for Duke at the 26:29 mark. For the majority of the opening half, the ball remained on the Blue Devils' offensive end of the field.
But Radford made the most of its scoring chances. Sasha Ilkovich scored with 11:06 left in the first stanza to tie the game, and then gave her team the lead with only 2:23 remaining until intermission as she scooted a rebound into the corner of the box.
While the Duke offense was efficient in earning scoring opportunities, it was quite the opposite in converting those opportunities into scores. The Blue Devils outshot the Highlanders 17-9, with the Radford keeper recording 11 saves.
"Our basic skills just have to be more consistent," Tchou said. "When we're consciously aware of one another on the field and passing the ball hard, we're basically unstoppable, but our little mistakes are what kept [Radford] in the game."
Ceccolini agreed that the offense needed to take better care of the ball.
"We're passing too much in the circle," she said. "In those situations it's better for the ball-handler to work it in and try to draw a foul. We just weren't focusing on that as much, and we should have recognized it."
The Duke defense had its share of ups and downs last night. The first half saw Radford notch goals on both its scoring chances, and at one point late in the second stanza, the Highlanders were awarded four consecutive corners.
"We need to stop the opponent's play much better," Tchou said. "We gave up two goals on two shots in the first half, and that's just unacceptable."
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