
No. 7 Field Hockey Confident Going Into No. 4 Duke
September 28, 2006 | Field Hockey
Sept. 28, 2006
Chestnut Hill, Mass.--The seventh-ranked Boston College field hockey team (8-2, 1-1 ACC) will head down to Durham, N.C. for the first time since 1998 to take on the fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils (7-2, 1-1 ACC) in a conference match-up on Saturday. The Eagles picked up a 1-0 win on Duke's home turf in 1998 and are 2-1 against the Blue Devils in Durham, despite being slightly edged, 3-4, in the all-time series between the two teams.
When these ACC foes met last season, Duke came out victorious by a 6-1 score, with Boston College's only goal coming off the stick of junior Crystal Frates with just eight minutes remaining in the game. The Blue Devils were also ranked fourth at the time, while the Eagles were ranked 16th in the latest national poll going into that game.
The Eagles are currently on a three-game win streak, including a 1-0 defeat of ACC opponent Virginia last Friday in Newton. Boston College also defeated Towson and Dartmouth during that run.
During the win streak, sophomore Bob Dirks (Malden, Netherlands) has tallied 11 points (five goals, 1 assist) for the Eagles and has started to heat up offensively. During the Towson game, Dirks took a season-high 12 shots and recorded her second career hat trick. She sits third in the ACC statistics in goals-per-game (0.90) and shots-per-game (4.30).
Sophomore Katie Quaglia (Los Altos, Calif.) has a league-leading eight assists under her belt to also make an impact in the Boston College attack, four of those assists coming during the win streak. Also part of this sophomore class which has stepped up significantly is goalkeeper Julia Berkowitz (Amherst, Mass.). She leads the ACC in saves-per-game (5.40) and, according to coaches, is one of the primary reasons why Boston College has stayed close in so many games this season.
Game time on Saturday is 1:00 p.m. Boston College will also play Appalachian State (0-7) on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. in Durham before traveling to Providence to take on the Friars on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.