Senior forward Katie Grant passed toward the middle of the field, only to have a Boston College defender deflect it past Eagles' goalie Jillian Savoy just fifteen minutes into the match. The Blue Devils never looked back on their way to a 6-1 victory.
Ranked fourth in the nation, Duke headed to Chestnut Hill, Mass. for Saturday's game against No. 16 Boston College (7-3, 1-2 in the ACC), trying to extend its winning streak to three.
A victory over the Eagles was just the start of the Blue Devils' successful weekend. Sunday, the Blue Devils took down Harvard (5-4) in similar fashion, winning 6-0 and notching their third shutout of the season. Duke delivered a team effort in both games, as goals were scored by five and four different players, respectively.
"[This weekend] was just some really, really great hockey," Duke head coach Beth Bozman said. "We moved the ball around well and played as a really good cohesive unit. I think we're getting to a good place as a team. The way the ball is moving and the way we're playing together and supporting each other, we're very happy with it."
Against Boston College, Duke (9-2, 2-1 in the ACC) added to its early 1-0 lead with first-half goals by midfielders Amy Stopford and Marcy Burns. Boston College did not get on the scoreboard until just eight minutes remained in the game and the Blue Devils led 6-0.
"We've been working a lot on our passing from the outside to the inside, using all sides of the field," said senior forward Nicole Dudek, who netted two goals against Boston College.
The game was Duke's first with a full roster since Sept. 10. Key players Grant, Stopford, midfielder Hilary Linton and forward Cara-Lynn Lopresti returned from their stint in Chile playing at the Junior World Cup. The four accounted for seven of the weekend's goals.
"I think all the players who were in Chile returned stronger players and the team that was left became stronger too," Bozman said. "It really benefited everybody, and what we've been focusing on is improving together and getting better as a team and its really working out for us."
The win over the Eagles improves Duke's record against ranked opponents to 5-2. So far this season, the Blue Devils have outscored their opponents 42-15.
"Our team, we tend to score a lot of goals," Grant said. "It's just kind of our thing, we love to attack."
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