No. 15 ’Cuse Drops Heartbreaker at Duke

Sunday, September 29

Durham, N.C.

Noon

Syracuse University

(6-3, 2-1)

Duke

(5-4, 1-1)

Syracuse

Duke University

9/29/2024 3:21:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – Grinding out regulation and two overtime periods in the second game of a weekend is no easy task. The Syracuse University field hockey team, ranked 15th entering this weekend, dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 game to No. 9 Duke after the host Blue Devils won 3-1 in the shootout portion of the match at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Syracuse (6-3, 1-2 ACC) had seven saves from netminder Louise Pert, who went the distance for her second shutout of the weekend. Pert and the Orange defensive unit weathered 11 Duke penalty corners, including five across the two overtime periods.

Duke (5-4, 1-1 ACC) out-shot the Orange 19-9 in the 80 minutes of action, including six in the overtime frames but could not break through the Orange defense. Alaina McVeigh, Charlie van Oirschot, and Josephine Palde scored during the shootout.

How it Happened

Pert was on her toes quickly as the Blue Devils picked up a penalty corner in the third minute, setting up a Macy Szukics shot that was stopped by Pert.
Duke's second corner of the frame, coming in the sixth minute, was similarly thwarted by Pert.
The Orange had a flurry of action midway into the first quarter as Lana Hamilton lined up a shot that was tipped away by starting Duke goalie Frederique Wollaert. Syracuse drew a corner after that but Bo van Kempen's shot was blocked down.
The hosts ripped back-to-back shots in the 25th minute as Pert stopped the first and the second was blocked away. Syracuse picked up another corner in the 28th minute but it was likewise blocked. Duke countered on the attempt by McVeigh's shot was forced off the post by Pert's positioning.
The third quarter was relatively quiet but the fourth started with a bang as the Blue Devils got off two shots in a row off a corner, both blocked away, sending the game to a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation.
Halfway through the first overtime, Syracuse got its first penalty corner as van Kempen took drag flick that was ultimately stopped by Wollaert. A second attempt 20 seconds later was blocked by a Duke defender.
Duke was awarded three straight penalty corners, a sequence that required lengthy reviews to sort out. Two chances were blocked while Pert was equal to the third attempt.
Again Duke had two straight corners midway into the second overtime, directly after a McVeigh shot was saved by Pert. The final corner of the game came off a Duke stick at the top of the circle, sending action into a shootout.
The Blue Devils switched goaltenders going into the shootout, electing to send Kaiya Chepow. Bo Madden, who helped block down several Duke shots during regulation, was the lone Syracuse player to score in the deciding moments. Pert made a stop on the final Duke attempt, but the Blue Devils had scored three goals before Syracuse's fourth chance missed.

Up Next for the Orange

After a long road swing with back-to-back weekends in North Carolina, the Orange return home to J.S. Coyne Stadium for a four-game homestand.
Action kicks off on Friday afternoon with No. 13 Louisville coming to town for a 4 p.m. game on ACC Network Extra.
Sunday sees the Orange host long-time rival Princeton, ranked 16th entering this weekend. Game time is set for 11:30 a.m. at J.S. Coyne Stadium.