Playing in its second NCAA Tournament double-overtime game in as many days, the field hockey team turned to Duke's all-time points leader, Katie Grant, to carry the team to a victory over Connecticut Sunday afternoon in Princeton, N.J.
Slightly more than a minute into the second overtime and the score knotted at two, Hilary Linton sent a pass across the circle where an open Grant pushed the ball past the keeper for a 3-2 win, sending the Blue Devils (17-4) to their third-straight national semifinals next weekend in Louisville.
"I think we've been, since last November, really focused on trying to get back [to the semifinals]," head coach Beth Bozman said. "So, it's just, we feel a great sense of accomplishment."
The victory came after Duke downed unranked Princeton (9-9), 2-1, Saturday morning in double-overtime to send the Blue Devils to the NCAA quarterfinals. By the time the 98-minute match ended, No. 4 Duke had only 24 hours to prepare for its second round match against 10th-ranked Connecticut.
Both tournament games were closely contested, with no team gaining a two-goal advantage all weekend.
In the NCAA Regional final, Connecticut (17-6) took an early lead as Kristin Galuski scored in the first two minutes of the game. The Huskies kept the 1-0 advantage for most of the first half, until Blue Devil Julie Tromp scored on a pass from Marcy Burns with just 49 seconds remaining in the half. Duke outshot UConn 7-4 in the half and dominated in drawing corners, 7-1, but did not catch any breaks.
"We responded really well and we didn't get down," Bozman said. "We continued to attack the whole first half but just could not seem to get it in."
Grant scored her first of two goals in the match midway through the second period, sending a reverse shot to the back of the cage for a 2-1 Blue Devil advantage.
The lead would be short lived, however, as the Huskies' Lauren Aird scored to tie the game at two just five minutes later. There would be no more scoring until Grant's heroics in the second overtime period.
Duke had trouble finding the cage all game, despite outshooting the Huskies 17-11 in the game and holding a 13-8 edge in corners. Bozman said that though her team failed to take advantage of its superior play, the Blue Devils played an emotionally charged game.
"We talked a lot about finding a passion and playing with that kind of heart, and we really did today," Bozman said. "We played with that same kind of passion in overtime and fortunately came up with a win."
Although both NCAA tournament games went to double overtime, the games were far from the same as Duke played poorly against the unranked Princeton team, Bozman said.
"They were two very different feel games," Bozman said. "I think [Saturday] we were flat and we didn't feel like we played with a lot of passion.... We did not play well, I will be perfectly honest."
Duke outshot Princeton 33-10, yet only registered one goal in regulation. Grant said while the team had many shots, very few were on good scoring opportunities, and the Blue Devils did not capitalize on the solid chances they were given.
Playing in the ACC allows Duke to square off against the best competition in the country-the conference is home to four of the top five teams in the NCAA. But with ACC teams playing similar styles, the Blue Devils had little experience with varying game plans, a weakness they showed over the weekend.
"The NCAA [Tournament] brings teams from such different areas together," Grant said. "The teams had types of play that we hadn't really played against too much this season. It's different from the regular ACC play and it's just kind of adjusting to that and continuing our attack."
The team will have an entirely different problem in the Final Four when Duke squares off against ACC-rival Wake Forest Friday. The Demon Deacons have defeated the Blue Devils in the past two NCAA Championship games.
"I think we're definitely excited to play them," Grant said. "It's going to be different this year because we are playing them in the semifinals, but I think we're really excited to play for the challenge."
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