The Players' Corner: Duke Weekend
October 04, 2006 | Field Hockey
Oct. 4, 2006
The field hockey team traveled down to Durham, N.C. to face #4 Duke on Saturday, September 30 and Appalachian State on Sunday, October 1. The team pulled out a double overtime win over the Blue Devils and a 9-0 handling of the Mountaineers to return to the Heights with a 10-2 overall record and a 2-1 ACC record. Brenna "Bren" Leahy (Windham, N.H.) and Katie "Q" Quaglia (Los Altos, Calif.) recount the busy weekend from how the players saw it.
Dear Diary...
Friday, September 29, 2006:
Today we departed from Conte at 10 AM. As we boarded Peter Pan, signs from the Yawkey training room were posted to encourage the team as well as our adored trainer, Helena. Upon arrival in Durham, North Carolina we quickly prepared for the final practice before the ACC match-up against the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday. We had one of our best practices yet this season; our defensive corners, offensive corners, defensive press and outlets were all on target which enabled us to step off the practice field with confidence before the big game.
Dinner time rolled around shortly after practice. We were lucky enough to meet up with the BC women's soccer team for a meal at California Pizza Kitchen. After the lively dinner with over 60 BC girls we headed back to the hotel for a quick meeting and film. Prior to the meeting we were fortunate enough to have Kia "Ja Rule" McNeil perform a psych for the team. After the hysterical performance we headed to bed for a long sleep before the beating up on the Dukies.
Saturday, September 30, 2006:
Today we took on the Duke Blue Devils. It was a beautiful day for field hockey. As the warm up mix started with Eminem and DMX, the opponent entered the field in two single file lines with their jacket hoods up in attempt to intimidate us; but we were too focused on our warm up and dancing to the Celine Dion section of the mix, that their entrance went unnoticed. As soon as the whistle blew, it was clear the game was going to be a tough battle. The first goal of the game was scored at the beginnging of the first half by Duke, but we relentlessly fought back. At the half it was 1-0 until we came back in the middle of the second half to tie it up. Regulation time ended and we continued into overtime with a man down, due to Brenna Leahy's yellow card in the last few minutes of the second half. After the first fifteen-minute period of 7v7 overtime the score remained tied. A few cups of Powerade later the overtime crew was ready for the second round. Both teams were fatigued but the BC defensive corner unit and goalkeeper Julia Berkowitz put up a brick wall against the endless amounts of Duke corners. Finally, BC got a breakaway and it was Bob Dirks against three Duke defenders. She beat the two field players and then took on the goalie and attempted a reverse stick shot with no angle on the cage. As she took her swing, everyone held their breath in anticipation. BANG! The ball nailed the far right backboard and the team rushed the field. It was a huge dog-pile with deafening screams and cheers; it was the greatest feeling ever. The win was capped off with Helena the trainer dumping a cooler of ice water on head coach Ainslee Lamb. It was a great Saturday; we beat the fourth-ranked team in the country and capped off a second win in the ACC.
Sunday, October 1, 2006:
Slightly fatigued and sore we took on Appalachian State today. Appalachian State has not had much success this season and therefore it was a game for the BC program to take a step while playing for a back-to-back win. The goals were scored by various members of BC, which proved the 9-0 win over Appalachian State to be a complete team effort. After two wins, a layover, a flight delay, and cranky stewardesses we made it back to B-town just in time to prepare for Providence and UNC in the week ahead.
Signing off on the Diary,
Bren & Q.
