No. 6 Duke kept things tight and tidy in Richmond on Sunday, riding an early strike from junior Ashley Stockdale and a suffocating defensive finish to escape with a 1-0 non-conference field hockey win over the Spiders.
The Blue Devils, now 2-0, never gave Richmond much room to breathe after Stockdale finished off the game’s first goal just 1:42 into the opening quarter. From there, Duke leaned on a defense that shut the door repeatedly in the second half, including back-to-back blocks on Richmond penalty corners in the final minute to protect the lead.
The winner came off Duke’s first corner of the day. Senior Madison Beach sent the ball toward the cage, and Stockdale redirected it into the back right corner of the net. Junior Callie Rogers handled the stick stop and picked up the secondary assist on the play.
Duke kept pressing after that early burst, earning two more corners and generating a couple more shots on goal in the opening quarter. Richmond goalkeeper Amanda Cimillo answered with two saves to keep the margin at one.
The Spiders had their best look of the second quarter at 10:51, when they earned a corner and fired three shots during the sequence. Duke’s defense turned away every one. Richmond outshot the Blue Devils, 4-3, over the quarter, but neither side found much clean offense before halftime, with Duke still in front 1-0.
The third quarter belonged to Duke defensively and territorially. The Blue Devils put six shots on the Richmond defense while not allowing an attempt in the period. Junior Julia Boehringer and sophomore Shae Wozniak each forced chances on goal, but Cimillo kept Richmond within striking distance.
That set up a tense final 15 minutes. Richmond didn’t record a shot attempt until 59:19, when it earned a corner and tried to cash in on the equalizer.
Duke blocked the shot. The Spiders got another corner with a little more than 30 seconds left, but the Blue Devils held firm again and ran out the clock.
Stockdale’s goal was her third of the season and the second game-winner of her career. Rogers collected her first assist as a Blue Devil and the third assist of her collegiate career. Junior goalkeeper Kaiya Chepow made one save and posted her fifth clean sheet as a Blue Devil.
Duke’s defense was especially sharp across opening weekend, allowing just two total shots in the second half. The Blue Devils held William & Mary without an attempt after halftime in Friday’s season opener, then kept Richmond from getting a shot for the first 29:19 of the second half on Sunday.
The win also pushed Duke to 25-7 all-time in season-opening weekends under head coach Pam Bustin, 27-6-1 against Richmond all-time, and 11-3-2 on the road against the Spiders.
Duke heads to The Bay State next for the annual ACC/B1G Challenge, hosted by Boston College in Newton, Massachusetts. The Blue Devils will play Northwestern on Sept. 4 and Maryland on Sept. 6 at the Field Hockey Complex.
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