Duke field hockey downs yet another ranked opponent, handles Old Dominion with ease

Despite dominating the stat sheet for the first half of the game, the Blue Devils entered the break tied at one, looking for a go-ahead goal. 

However, with Rose Tynan’s 11th goal of the season coming just under two minutes into the start of the second half, the floodgates opened, and Duke cruised to a victory over Old Dominion. 

After defeating No. 18 Virginia at home 1-0 Friday, the No. 4 Blue Devils traveled to Norfolk, Va. to take on the No. 22 Monarchs Sunday afternoon at L.R. Hill Complex in a bid for their fifth straight victory. Although Duke outshot Old Dominion 12-3 in the opening 35 minutes, it was unable to find any separation until Tynan’s first of two goals of the contest sparked some life into the Blue Devils.  

“The two halves were very similar but I think we just woke up a bit,” Duke head coach Pam Bustin told GoDuke.com. “We were a little bit too much spectating the person with the ball rather than engaging the person with the ball. Whether that is in attack or defense, we needed to be more engaging and become more a part of the game as a whole, as a team. I thought they absolutely did that. The energy on the attack and the defense was outstanding the second half.” 

For the fourth time in as many contests, Tynan scored, putting away a cross from Lexi Davidson by the back post to give the Blue Devils (11-3) a 2-1 lead. After the senior opened the floodgates, freshman Olivia Sahaydek knocked in her 8th career goal just under 10 minutes later, hitting the ball to the far post off a cross from Leah Crouse from the endline to double Duke’s lead. 

Following a lull in scoring, the Blue Devils extended their lead with another Tynan goal, who put the ball home into the lower left corner of the cage following a penalty in the 62nd minute. With Morgan Bitting and Lily Posternak credited with the assist, nine different Duke players recorded a point. Margaux Paolino added another goal just over five minutes later for good measure, with an unassisted tally following a hard shot into the lower right corner.  

Duke's run was kicked off by the Blue Devils' Erin Scherrer, who went to high school at Cape Henry Collegiate–just about 30 minutes away from the Monarchs’ stadium. The senior forward deflected in the ball following a penalty corner shot in the 23rd minute, with Jillian Wolgemuth recording the assist. However, Old Dominion (7-5) responded just under five minutes before the break with Jess Miller deflecting a shot following a scrum in front of the cage after a penalty corner. 

“Second half we just decided to keep possession, keep the ball moving and to build attack with patience,” Scherrer said. “All the girls on our team really worked hard and built up to have good attack and have lots of shots on cage. Virginia Beach girls did well too, so that is really fun.”