The No. 3 Duke women's field hockey program has never seen a bigger weekend, and under first-year head coach Beth Bozman, a program that usually meanders near the bottom of an ultra-competitive ACC has finally come of age.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils (11-2, 1-2 in the ACC) knocked off No. 4 (then-No. 3) Maryland (12-2, 1-2) 3-1 at Williams Field, a league victory with a litany of postseason implications.
Then Sunday, Duke traveled to No. 1 Wake Forest (12-1, 3-0) and snapped the Demon Deacons' 31-game winning streak as a Katie Grant goal with 18:34 remaining broke a scoreless tie and propelled the Blue Devils to a 1-0 victory. The game was a non-conference matchup.
"The bottom line is this was a very difficult game to win, and we put it together enough to walk away with a win, and it is a huge accomplishment for the program," Bozman said.
Duke did not have many chances to score against Wake Forest, marshaling only nine shots, but Grant was able to take advantage of a scramble in front of the Wake Forest net, shooting the ball in from the right post.
The Blue Devils were outplayed in the first half as a team, said Bozman, as they failed to execute their gameplan.
"We were not very good in the first half," she said. "Wake Forest had some great opportunities, but our defense played quite well. Morgan was phenomenal and her play kept us in the game."
Fortunate to survive the barrage of 13 shots and 10 corners by the aggressive Wake Forest offense, the Blue Devils went into halftime knowing they needed to make adjustments.
Saving a career-high 16 shots, the one constant throughout the game was the stellar play of Morgan in goal. Allowing just a single goal in two complete games, Morgan earned ACC Player of the Week honors announced Monday.
"They were not able to finish their opportunities," Bozman said of Wake Forest. "The way our defense played them had a bearing on their inability to finish. I think we were fortunate, very fortunate to get out of the first half without [Wake Forest scoring]."
Bozman said that her team didn't change its game plan at the half; everyone just began to stick to it. Offensive production followed. The Blue Devils took eight shots after halftime compared to one in the first period and increased their corner opportunities from one to six.
"They put a lot of pressure on us than previous opponents this season," Wake Forest head coach Jennifer Averill said. "We made poor decisions with the ball. Statistically we beat them, but we just couldn't finish on our shots."
After the Blue Devils took the lead, they maintained their aggressive play.
"We weren't playing to protect our lead," Morgan said. "We were playing to win the game."
Just 24 hours before handing Wake Forest its first loss of the season, the Blue Devils took on Maryland, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Terrapins. The Blue Devils score two first-half goals, the first by Katie Grant at the 24-minute mark and the second by Kim Van Kirk with less than two minutes remaining in the half.
Early in the second period, Duke extended its lead as Nicole Dudek scored off the rebound of a Gracie Sorbello penalty shot. Maryland broke up the Duke shutout with four minutes remaining but failed to create another scoring opportunity for the remainder of the game.
"I thought we really stuck to our game plan and moved the ball well," Bozman said. "They had some key opportunities, but the difference between the two teams was our ability to finish."
The victory over Maryland puts the Blue Devils in position to earn a first-round bye in the ACC tournament. If Duke beats No. 20 Virginia Nov. 2, it will likely be the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
The pair of weekend wins, but especially the victory over Maryland, put the Blue Devils in solid position to be one of the top-four seeds entering the NCAA tournament.
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