Homecoming couldn't have gone much better for field hockey standout Corey Ceccolini.
The senior got to go home, see her family, practice at her high school and win three games as the 12th-ranked Blue Devils (10-5) knocked off Yale, Princeton and Fairfield during fall break.
"It was great for everybody; it was an exciting weekend," Ceccolini said. "When we come up north, we get support from friends and relatives, because a lot of us are from the Northeast. It was really emotional, but awesome.
"We were definitely pumped up. The hometown thing really helped.... We went out and got it done."
The three games were played in Fairfield, just 45 minutes from Ceccolini's hometown of Branford, Conn. She returned to her home state in style, scoring Duke's only two goals in a 2-1 win against Yale Saturday.
She was held scoreless the following afternoon, but Liz Bateman dished out an assist and scored a goal in Duke's 3-1 victory over No. 16 Princeton. Melissa Yuppa and Kerri Dunn gave the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead, but Princeton retaliated with a fierce attack. The Tigers scored to cut the advantage to one when Duke coach Liz Tchou called a timeout.
"I told them we need to pick it up, and right after that, we scored our third goal, and that was the turning point," Tchou said. "The girls played incredibly hard, diving on the turf and to get the insurance goal was incredible, especially after Princeton was scoring and getting shots.
"The Princeton game was an awesome game.... Princeton's a great team and it was a huge win for us, especially if we want to make the NCAAs."
Duke completed the Connecticut sweep in undramatic fashion yesterday afternoon with an easy 5-0 romp over Fairfield.
"Our execution, our skills were a lot sharper," Tchou said. "We made other teams play our tempo which is quick, and we took quick free hits and it really threw off the other teams.... Everybody picked it up."
And although Ceccolini and the Blue Devils romped freely through their backyards this weekend, a tough test lies ahead at their campus address. No. 7 Wake Forest, which beat Duke 6-0 earlier this season, comes to Williams Field this Sunday for an ACC showdown.
"Three wins is a great impetus to play Wake on Sunday," Tchou said. "And [the team] can't wait for this game. We know we didn't play our game against them. If there's one thing we got back this weekend, it's playing how Duke plays. We dictated how games went. We played our game the whole weekend."
Ray Holloman contributed to this story.
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