No. 4 Duke Dispatches William & Mary, 8-4, in Opener

Friday, August 26

Durham, N.C.

6:00 PM

Duke University

William & Mary

No. 4 Duke Dispatches William & Mary, 8-4, in Opener

8/26/2016 8:35:00 PM | Field Hockey

FH Highlights: Duke 8, W&M 4 Photos: Duke 8, William & Mary 4 Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – Six different Blue Devils found the back of the cage to propel fourth-ranked Duke to an 8-4 season-opening victory over William & Mary Friday at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium.

Senior Heather Morris and graduate student Aisling Naughton notched two goals each and rookie Margaux Paolino added three assists as the Blue Devils (1-0) exploded for the program's highest-scoring output since turning in an 11-goal performance against Kent State in 2012.

“Having the final result of an attack that we've been working on and the build-up, that was really positive, especially when the chances come early,” said head coach Pam Bustin. “Our defense organization – it was not our character out there in how we played tonight ... It's something that we have to rebuild with the group we have, and it just takes a little bit of time.”

Junior Alyssa Chillano registered Duke's first goal of the 2016 campaign in the third minute, finishing on a penalty corner opportunity with assists from senior Robin Blazing and Paolino. Naughton added a score off a rebound just over four minutes later to help the Blue Devil attack set the tone early.

The Tribe's Booter Ellis countered with a rebound shot at the post in the 12th minute, but Duke would go on to score four more goals before the end of the period for a 6-1 halftime lead. Sophomore Rose Tynan fired in a pass from Stephanie Pezzuti on a corner play before Pezzuti deflected in a ball from Morris for her first career goal. Junior midfielder Alexa Mackintire and Naughton also broke through with tallies to give the Blue Devils the five-goal advantage at the break.

William & Mary turned the tide just minutes into the second half, receiving scores from Cata Days and Maria Jose Pastor. After Morris responded with an unassisted tally in the 46th minute, the Tribe narrowed the margin to three again on a Cammie Lloyd goal.

“They came out with a more aggressive press, and I think maybe we were in a little bit too chill of a mode to react to it,” Bustin said. “Eventually we started working our way through that.”

Morris tacked on a hard shot toward the end of the contest, finishing on a ball from junior Ashley Kristen, to put the final score at 8-4.

“We were knocking on the door a lot,” Morris said. “I tried to work on my positioning and working off of people. My teammates gave me great passes and it worked out perfectly.”

The Blue Devils outshot William & Mary 24-12 on the day and earned nine corners to six by the Tribe.

Goalkeeper Morgan Connor totaled 11 saves for William & Mary while Duke's Sammi Steele and Kelsey Wagner each played a half in the cage. Wagner finished the evening with three saves and Steele two.

The Blue Devils face their first ranked opponent of the year Sunday in No. 13 Liberty. The 1 p.m. contest at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra with live stats also available.

--- QUICK HITS ---

- Freshman Margaux Paolino's three assists tied for the second-most by a Blue Devil in a game. They were the most by a Duke player since Morgan Bitting notched three in a win over Longwood last October.

- Duke improved to 26-11 all-time in season openers.

#GoDuke