Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Duke (NCAA First Round)
Princeton Drops Double-OT Heartbreaker to Duke in NCAA First Round
November 12, 2005 | Field Hockey
Nov. 12, 2005
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Princeton, N.J. - The Ivy League champion Princeton field hockey team fell to fourth-ranked Duke 2-1 in double-overtime on Saturday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium. Princeton, which received stellar goalkeeping from junior Allison Nemeth, held Duke at bay much of the game and it executed its game plan to a tee by creating several good scoring chances off the rush.
The teams played nearly 100 minutes as play went end-to-end and both teams had good chances at the win. Nemeth came up big for the Tigers throughout the game, making 11 saves, six of which came during overtime.
Princeton had its first great chance of the game just 1:17 into the game when senior Lauren Ehrlichman had her first of four breakaways in the game. Ehrlichman deked Duke goalkeeper Christy Morgan and had a clear shot, but it trickled wide and the game remained scoreless.
Princeton settled in and focused defensively following that rush, but used the breakaway pass several times in the game. The pass and play gave the Tigers the lead at 28:32 when off a free-hit, senior Maren Ford led freshman Leah Hoagland with a breakaway pass. Hoagland won the race to the ball and fooled Morgan with a shot to score and give Princeton the 1-0 lead. The goal was the first of Hoagland's career.
Duke continued to pressure throughout the rest of the half, but could not score to even it up and the score remained 1-0 Princeton through halftime. Duke outshot Princeton 12-3 in the half.
The Blue Devils started the second half strong and made the score 1-1 at the 39:17 mark. Katie Grant carried the ball in and Nicole Dudek chipped in her pass for her 16th goal of the season. Duke pressured Princeton through the middle of the half but Princeton had a few great shots as time ran down. With 20 minutes left on the clock, sophomore Nicole Ng rang a shot off the post and with eight minutes remaining in regulation Ng's shot beat the Duke goaltender, but Duke's Laura Suchoski made a game-saving defensive save to keep the game tied 1-1.
Regulation ended with the team's tied 1-1, but with Duke holding a 20-7 edge in shots.
The excitement and anticipation only grew as overtime began and each team had several good chances to score. The first chance came for Princeton. Sophomore Paige Schmidt took a free-hit from outside the arc with 12 minutes left in the first overtime that deflected into the Duke goal for the apparent game-winning goal. Princeton celebrated, but the goal was called back as it was ruled that a Duke player deflected it in and that no Princeton player had made contact with it within the arc.
Once play resumed Duke had an immediate chance to score the game winner but Ford made a defensive game to keep Princeton alive. Ehrlichman had the next chance as she was spring with a breakaway pass, but Morgan was able to get a piece of the ball before Ehrlichman could control it for a shot.
The first overtime expired with Duke holding a 7-1 shot edge in the period and a 27-8 edge in the game.
The Blue Devils came out for the second overtime hungry and pressured Nemeth and the Tigers immediately. Just 37 seconds into the stanza, Katie Grant received a pass on the doorstep and fired it but Nemeth flew across the goal and threw out her arm and leg to knock the ball away. Nemeth made three saves in the overtime as the clock ticked towards penalty strokes.
With 1:27 left in the overtime and with 98:33 elapsed in the game, Duke was finally able to beat the Princeton defense and it was Dudek scoring her second goal of the game on a play very similar to the one on which she scored in the second half. This time Suchoski carried the ball in and fed the pass across to Dudek who scored her 17th goal of the season.
Nemeth made 11 saves in the game while Morgan stopped two shots. Duke held a 33-10 shot advantage and had 11 corners to Princeton's two.
The loss ends Princeton's season at 9-9. Duke will meet Connecticut tomorrow at 2 p.m. for a spot in the NCAA semifinals.