Duke Edges Wildcats in OT to Go 2-0 at B1G/ACC Cup

Sunday, September 4

Lancaster, Pa.

11:00 AM

Duke University

Northwestern

Duke Edges Wildcats in OT to Go 2-0 at B1G/ACC Cup

9/4/2016 1:11:00 PM | Field Hockey

Season Statistics Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

LANCASTER, Pa. – Junior Alyssa Chillano tallied two goals, including a game winner in overtime, to lift the fourth-ranked Blue Devils over No. 16 Northwestern, 3-2, Sunday at the B1G/ACC Cup. With the overtime victory, Duke moved to 4-0 on the season and went unbeaten at the four-team tournament for the second consecutive season.

Playing in overtime for the first time on the year, the Blue Devils regrouped after surrendering the equalizer to the Wildcats with one minute and 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

“We appreciate this level of competition just to make all the teams get better as we move forward,” said head coach Pam Bustin. “We take a lot of pride in being part of [the ACC] and we take a lot of pride in the work that we put in to represent this conference. The Big Ten is obviously a great conference with strong teams, and we faced two of them this week. They weren't easy – they were battles – and hopefully all teams get better from it.”

The Wildcats drew three consecutive corners to start the contest, and despite three initial stops by Duke goalkeeper Sammi Steele, broke through on the third opportunity. Pascale Massey redirected a ball into the cage from Dominique Masters to give Northwestern a 1-0 advantage in the third minute.

Duke evened the score just eight minutes later on a corner opportunity of its own. Chillano converted for her third goal of the season while junior Ainsley Gill and freshman Margaux Paolino provided the assists. The Blue Devils maintained momentum on their attacking end, swinging the score into their favor 32nd minute when senior Heather Morris tracked down a loose ball in front of the cage and put it away.

After outshooting Northwestern 12-5 in the opening 35 minutes, Duke took the 2-1 lead into the break.

Steele and Northwestern goalkeeper Lindsay von der Luft held strong against corner attempts in the second period, with von der Luft also turning away offerings by Blue Devils Paolino and Aisling Naughton. Duke put up a solid defensive stand after the Wildcats broke into the circle in the waning minutes, but Northwestern came back to net the equalizer with 1:20 remaining on the clock. Saar de Breij punched through the tying goal, and the match headed to overtime.

“Northwestern did a great job with the extra man strategy,” Bustin said. “We had addressed it earlier in the week and just had a little miscommunication. Sometimes that's all it takes. I appreciate the experience that will get us to go back and try to shore up our defense for that. We know what to do – we've just got to make sure we make it happen on the field.”

Duke recorded five shots in overtime to two by the Wildcats, including a laser by Naughton that went just off cage at the beginning of the period. Chillano and Sarah Furey provided solid play in the backfield on a Northwestern breakaway before the Blue Devils drew a penalty corner in the 76th minute. Paolino played the ball to Chillano, who fired the game winner to lift the Blue Devils to the 3-2 victory.

For the contest, Duke led in shots by a 22-14 margin and generated five corners to six by the Wildcats. Steele totaled seven saves in the win while von der Luft finished with 13 stops for Northwestern.

The Blue Devils open ACC play next weekend, hosting Virginia Friday at 6 p.m. at Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium before welcoming non-conference opponent James Madison to Durham Sunday at 1 p.m.

--- NOTES ---

- The Blue Devils faced their third consecutive ranked opponent, improving to 3-0 against ranked foes.

- Duke played in its first overtime contest of the season.

#GoDuke