DURHAM, N.C.. – It was a defensive battle between two ranked teams, but the No. 22 Old Dominion field hockey team (7-5, 3-1 BIG EAST) was defeated by No. 4 Duke (9-3, 1-2 ACC) 1-0 on the road on Sunday afternoon.
"Overall our team worked really well together today, and we gave ourselves opportunities to get a positive outcome in the game. Defensively we worked hard and effectively as a unit," head coach Andrew Griffiths said after the loss. "Duke is a high-quality team that has the ability to score a lot of goals, and we limited them to a small number of quality scoring opportunities. We moved the ball with speed and confidence and we were able to penetrate into the attacking end, but we just couldn't get the last piece to get the outcome we needed to tie it up."
The only goal in the game came late in the first half, when Duke’s Leah Crouse beat Monarch goalkeeper Cam MacGillivray for her eighth tally of the season in the 29th minute of action to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead going into the halftime locker rooms.
Overall in the contest, the Monarchs were held to just three shots against Duke’s 12 shots. Defensively, both teams played a clean game, as there were just two penalty corner opportunities in the entire game, both of which were taken by the Blue Devils.
MacGillivray corralled five saves in the effort, while Duke’s Sammi Steele saved two Monarch shots to earn the shutout.
"I am happy with where the team is at this point," Griffiths added. "We are improving, working as a team and have played consistently good hockey for the past four games. We will be looking to continue this into our next conference game on Friday."
The Monarchs will be back in action on Friday, October 18 at 5:00 p.m., when they welcome BIG EAST foe Temple to the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.