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6:30 p.m.
Field Hockey
at Boston College
Sunday, November 12
Durham, N.C.
2 p.m.
Duke University
3
vs
0
Ohio State (Second Round)
Field Hockey Advances To Fourth Straight Final Four With 3-0 Shutout Over Ohio State
11/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
DURHAM, N.C. - The fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devil field hockey team advanced to its fourth straight Final Four on Sunday with a 3-0 shutout victory over fifth-ranked Ohio State at Williams Field.
Sophomore Ashley Pultorak got the Blue Devils on the board at the 22:21 mark as she netted her fifth goal of the season on an assist from senior Liz Floyd to put the Blue Devils up 1-0.
Duke played stellar defense on both sides of the field, but the Blue Devils' inside-the-circle defense was key, blocking two Buckeye first-half shots.
Duke increased its advantage with two and a half minutes remaining in the half as a hard pass across the top of the circle from senior Hilary Linton reached freshman Lauren Miller. Miller then dished the ball to sophomore Marian Dickinson, who was down low inside the circle, and Dickinson netted her 19th goal of the season, as the Blue Devils went into the halftime break with a 2-0 advantage.
Both teams came out ready to play in the second half but Duke's defense prevailed, blocking two more Ohio State shots early in the period. With 25 minutes remaining in the contest, the Blue Devils' excellent inside-the-circle defensive play continued, as Ohio State got off two shots following a penalty corner, one of which was saved by junior goalie Caitlin Williams and the other blocked by sophomore Laura Suchoski.
Soon after, senior Cara-Lynn Lopresti dribbled the ball over an Ohio State defender's stick to get off a clean shot, as she netted her sixth goal of the season to put the Blue Devils ahead, 3-0.
Ohio State saw two fast-break opportunities late in the half, but Williams came out of the cage to boot away the first one and later repeated the play, as Duke would go on to post a 3-0 shutout victory over the Buckeyes to advance to their fourth Final Four in four years.
“I think we played probably the best we played all year [today],” said Duke head coach Beth Bozman. “We had a game plan and we executed and were able to finish things. This game is obviously very important because it advances us to the Final Four but it also gives us a tremendous amount of confidence going into the Final Four because of the way we played today.”
Duke out-shot the Buckeyes, 13-10, while Ohio State narrowly out-cornered the Blue Devils, 5-4, receiving all five penalty corner opportunities in the second half. Williams recorded two saves for Duke, while Ohio State keeper Lindsay Quintiliani notched three saves on the day. Williams' save-total now stands at 66 for the season.
Ohio State ends its season with an overall record of 15-4, while Duke heads into semifinal play with a record of 16-5. The Blue Devils will meet No.1-ranked Wake Forest in the championship semifinals on Friday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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