No. 3 Duke got a milestone night from graduate student McVeigh, but it wasn’t enough to leave Stanford with a win.
McVeigh scored her 50th career goal Friday evening, and junior Julia Boehringer also scored for the Blue Devils, yet Duke fell 3-2 in overtime at Stanford in ACC field hockey action. The loss dropped Duke to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the ACC, while snapping a seven-game winning streak.
Duke spent much of the night controlling the run of play. The Blue Devils outshot Stanford 18-5 and earned seven penalty corners, but Stanford goalkeeper Anya Jackson came up with 10 saves, and the Cardinal made the most of their chances by scoring on all three of their shots on goal.
Stanford struck first, with Mia Clark converting on a penalty corner less than a minute into the game for a 1-0 lead.
Duke answered in the second quarter. After a quiet opening to the frame, the Blue Devils earned a penalty stroke in the 27th minute, and Boehringer finished cleanly into the top-left corner to tie the game at 1-1 at 26:41. It was her second goal of the season.
The Blue Devils then seized the lead in the third quarter after forcing a Stanford turnover in the Cardinal’s defensive third. Duke’s pressure created the opening, and McVeigh finished in dramatic fashion at the 37:03 mark. The Landsdale, Pennsylvania, native was in mid-fall on the shot, but she kept her eyes on the cage and flipped the ball up and in for the milestone goal.
That gave McVeigh her fifth goal of the season and moved her to nine all-time on the Duke career charts with 119 points. She also became the ninth player to score 50 goals during her time as a Blue Devil.
Stanford responded early in the fourth quarter, as Puja Nanjappa scored in the 47th minute to pull the Cardinal level at 2-2.
Duke had a late chance to win it in regulation, earning a penalty corner with 13 seconds left. The Blue Devils got a strong look on the set piece, but Jackson’s ninth save of the night forced overtime.
Stanford then ended it in the 62nd minute when Bea Varley scored in transition for the 3-2 golden goal.
Duke now drops to 2-3 in overtime games this season. Boehringer finished with her second goal of the year and now has six points on the season.
The Blue Devils close their West Coast trip on Oct. 11 against No. 14 Cal.
The matchup is set for 3 p.m. ET and will air on ACCNX.
In Other News...
Dukes Frustrating Collapse Exposed Two Problems Fans Cant Ignore
Dukes first loss of the season came in Atlanta, where a 28-25 defeat to Georgia Tech left the Blue Devils with plenty to sort through beyond the final score. Walker Eget and linebacker Luke Mergott were among the players who made their presence felt, and Duke actually handled itself well on third and fourth downs, showing enough composure in key spots to stay in the game deep into the afternoon.
Still, the details that tilted the result were hard to ignore. Penalties in the first half repeatedly put Duke behind schedule, and the inside running game never matched the kind of push the Blue Devils needed to control the flow of the game. For a team that had started clean and confident, the loss exposed two issues that will linger until Duke proves it can play cleaner and generate more consistent production between the tackles. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Faces Its First Real Test With Unbeaten Start On The Line
Dukes unbeaten start has given Manny Diaz and his team some early momentum, but the next step looks far more revealing than the first four games. At 4-0, the Blue Devils head into Week 6 with a trip to Georgia Tech looming, and the matchup carries extra weight after the Yellow Jackets came into Durham last season and left with a win.
This time, Duke arrives with a defense that has been tougher and a rushing attack that has helped stabilize the offense. Georgia Tech comes in at 1-3 and is looking for a lift of its own, which makes this a useful checkpoint for Duke before the schedule gets any less demanding. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Let A Winnable Road Game Slip Away In Painful Fashion
For much of the afternoon in Atlanta, Duke had the kind of road game it needed to finish and move on, with Nate Sheppard doing plenty to keep the Blue Devils in front of the conversation. Playing through a foot injury, the running back carried a heavy load and turned in a standout all-around effort, finishing with 99 rushing yards, two touchdowns and 91 receiving yards as Duke tried to stay clean in the ACC race.
Instead, the Blue Devils let a winnable game unravel in painful fashion. Penalties kept handing Georgia Tech extra chances, and when Duke still had a path to force overtime, freshman kicker Gavin Strange missed the late field goal try that would have tied it. The 28-25 loss drops Duke to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in league play, a frustrating result in a game that was there to be taken. [Read more 🡒]