On a sunny Sunday afternoon, a day after the rain and No. 1 Maryland poured down on 13th-ranked Duke, the Blue Devils avenged Saturday's loss with a 7-0 drubbing of Davidson.
Duke began the weekend with its second ACC contest of the season against Maryland Saturday. The Blue Devils stunned the top-ranked Terrapins by jumping out to a 4-0 first-half lead on the back of sophomore Kim Van Kirk's, freshman Johanna Bischof's and senior captain Liz Bateman's two goals.
Yet like every game this season when Duke gained an early lead, the Blue Devils found it harder to play with the same intensity when they are ahead 4-0 than when they were down.
"We have to learn how to play with a lead," Tchou said. "It's a matter of holding them off or stopping them, and Maryland is probably one of the most skilled teams we'll see all season."
The Blue Devils watched their lead dwindle to 4-2 at halftime and then the Terps tied it at 4-all in the second. With the chance to down the No. 1 team in the country on the line, Bateman stepped up and rebounded a shot by Bischof for the lead with 13:09 remaining in the game.
With a 5-4 in place, all Duke had to do was hold off the Maryland offense, a feat few teams have been able to do this season. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils managed to stave off two penalty corners and heavy play in the Duke circle before the Terps were awarded one last corner with no time left on the clock.
Maryland redshirt freshman Sara Silvetti knocked it past Blue Devil goalie Hallie Smith to force Duke's second overtime battle this season. Duke is now 1-1 in overtime contests.
In field hockey, when the score is tied at the end of regulation, seven players take the field for a 15-minute sudden-death period. Unfortunately for Duke, the mental lapse that granted Maryland a second chance also allowed Terrapin senior Dina Rizzo to complete a hat trick of her own 40 seconds into overtime to push the ball past Smith for the win.
"We haven't been able to score back on them in the past and as we sat there and watched the four-goal lead diminish and diminish, I knew the win was right there," Bateman said. "And then they scored with no time left on the clock. It was kind of a let down."
With the loss, Duke moves to 0-2 in ACC play, but that record also applies to the Blue Devils' record against ACC teams that were ranked No. 1.
"I've never seen a Duke team I've coached play with such heart and passion to want to win that game," Tchou said. "We had them, we really did. I'm very disappointed for [my players]. They deserved to feel a top-five win today."
The Blue Devils returned to action Sunday under a sunny sky and a new determination to win. As opposed to a Duke team that started the season with a freshman and a senior dominating the offensive stat sheets, seven different players scored the seven goals Sunday with two players notching their first goals of the season.
"All of our goals seemed like they really connected," Van Kirk said. "They would start in the backfield and send it up the middle. Everyone worked together for almost every goal."
After 20 minutes of unconnected play, the Blue Devils turned on the intensity to head into the locker room with a 2-0 lead. Van Kirk scored her fifth goal of the season a minute after senior Robin Merritt outran Davidson goalie Cate Schenning for her second on the year.
Freshman sharpshooter Johanna Bischof scored first in the match for her team-leading ninth goal of the season while Stacey Tsougas, Jessica Fluck and freshman Katie Anthony all got on the board for the Blue Devils.
In a sense, Anthony's goal typified the Blue Devils' dominant play of the afternoon. Shortly after the Wildcats substituted their goalie, three Duke players bore down on the new recruit in a power play straight out of the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena.
Bateman continued her offensive hot streak of seven points on three goals and an assist last week with a goal against Davidson and another hat trick and assist against Maryland.
"It's exciting for everyone for a different person to score each goal," Tsougas said. "It was a total team effort today."
Duke (7-4, 2-0 in the ACC) allowed Davidson only a trio of shots in the contest, with all three coming in the second stanza. The Blue Devils' defensive effort was so strong that even the Wildcats' four penalty corners couldn't break their composure late in the second half.
The Blue Devils' fifth shutout of the year marked Duke's solution to Davidson's "packing" defense, which, like that of Virginia Commonwealth, placed all of its players in the defensive circle to not allow Duke any easy shots.
"I think we started out a little slow," Tchou said. "We needed to get our movement going right away and that means that our dynamic movement needs to be there all the time. When you have a team that plays with all its players back inside the defensive [circle], that movement is paramount to be able to move the ball around the field."
Duke will next take on Wake Forest at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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