Sept. 30, 2007

Box Score

NEWTON, Mass. - The 14th-ranked Boston University field hockey team had its six-game win streak come to a close on Sunday afternoon in a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker against No. 15 Duke at Boston College's Newton Campus Turf Field. The Terriers rallied from a 2-1 halftime deficit and held a 21-15 advantage in shots, but came up short to move to 9-3 on the season.

"I'm really proud of how the team competed today," said head coach Sally Starr. "We played poised and tough, and we battled for everything. We were a total hockey team that came up just short in a very exciting game."

The Terriers got goals from seniors Hayley Hamada and Sarah Shute, while freshman goalkeeper Kim Kastuk made a season-high nine saves.

Shute knotted the game at 2-2 in the 44th minute on an assist from classmate Hadley Adams and had one of her shots rattle off the left post just over eight minutes later. A point-blank effort by Shute with less than two minutes left in regulation was blocked by a Duke defender in front of an empty cage.

Junior Marian Dickinson scored two goals for Duke, including the overtime winner, and senior goalkeeper Caitlin Williams recorded 11 saves. The Blue Devils improved to 7-5 on the year with the victory.

After Duke weathered a trio of circle penetrations by the Terriers in the opening minutes of overtime, the Blue Devils got the ball into their offensive zone and drew a pair of penalty corners, with the latter one providing the winning tally at 75:35. After inserting the ball, Dickinson scored her second goal of the contest when she redirected a pass from sophomore Lauren Miller near the left post. 

"The result is, to me, inconsequential at this time of the season, because I saw our team step up and play at a high-caliber level," added Starr. "It will certainly be a stepping stone for better things to come in October." 

The teams traded goals throughout the afternoon, with Duke opening the scoring in the 20th minute on a tally from senior Shayna McGeehan before the Terriers answered just under eight minutes later with Hamada's goal. Dickinson scored the first of her two goals with 3:13 left in the opening half to give the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead at the break.

BU outshot Duke 14-4 in the latter half and earned eight penalty corners on the day to the Blue Devils' seven. All three of Duke's goals came off corners.

McGeehan gave the Blue Devils an early lead at 19:17 when she tipped in a pass that came from Miller at top of the circle on a corner.

An odd-player rush by the Terriers led to their first goal, as Shute penetrated the circle from the right side to draw Williams out. The Duke netminder initially broke up the play, but Hamada was there to collect the loose ball on the right and send a slow, angled roller into the cage at the 27:16 mark.

Dickinson helped Duke regain the lead at 2-1 when she sent home a rebound near the left post at 31:47 after Kastuk turned aside a shot by sophomore Amie Survilla.

The Terriers came out of the intermission determined to knot the contest and put six quick shots on goal before Shute came through with the equalizer at 43:31. Adams attacked from the left side and passed the ball over to Shute, who lunged forward and nailed a shot that went off Williams' pad before elevating into the cage.

"Particularly in the second half, we played probably the best transitional game we have all season," said Starr. "We defended and attacked as a unit and got the numbers up in some of our rushes. You have to defend with 10 against a team like Duke, but even with doing that, we were able to break out effectively and dangerously."

BU will return to action on Friday, Oct. 5, when it travels south to face Fairfield in a conference match-up. Game time is set for 4 p.m.