Duke Rallies in Second Half to Beat Iowa, 2-1, in NCAA First Round

Friday, November 14

Chapel Hill, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Duke University

(13-7)

Iowa

(14-6)

Iowa

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Rallies in Second Half to Beat Iowa, 2-1, in NCAA First Round

11/14/2025 4:50:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score Postgame Press Conference Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Duke senior Alaina McVeigh scored in the 50th minute to lead the Blue Devils to a 2-1 comeback victory over Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship Friday afternoon at Karen Shelton Stadium.

The Blue Devils (13-7) advance to the quarterfinals against top-seed North Carolina, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. It will be the third meeting in three weeks between the ACC rivals. Juliette Schulten had Duke's first goal of the game and Kaiya Chepow helped anchor a stellar defensive effort with four saves.

How it Happened

The opening quarter was an even battle with Iowa holding a 5-2 edge in shots thanks to a pair of late penalty corners. The Duke defensive penalty corner unit stayed strong as Chepow made three saves and the Blue Devils blocked the other two shots on five penalty corners.
Duke had two shots off the sticks of McVeigh and Macy Szukics denied by Iowa goalkeeper Mia Magnotta.
Iowa leading scorer Dionne van Aalsum forced a turnover by the Blue Devils in their own defensive third and raced to the circle to put the Hawkeyes up 1-0 midway through the second quarter.
van Aalsum continued to put pressure on the Blue Devils' backfield, firing a shot wide left of the cage as Iowa took a 1-0 lead into halftime. Duke finished the opening half with five shots with McVeigh having the best chance in the second quarter after a turnover by Iowa just outside the penalty circle.
The Blue Devils were the aggressors in the third quarter, pushing the pace and finding the equalizer in the 41st minute from Schulten. The rookie took the initial hit from the penalty corner insert, hitting the foot of an Iowa defender. Schulten stayed with the play and fired a high shot past Magnotta to tie the game. The shot initially was ruled a foul, but the call was reversed following a challenge by the Blue Devils.
Julia Boehringer had a good look at the goal, dribbling in from the right side but couldn't beat Magnotta on the near post.
The Blue Devils grabbed the lead in the 50th minute as Madison Beach and McVeigh connected again for a highlight reel goal. Beach played the ball into the penalty circle where McVeigh was able to turn on her defender and find just enough space to fire a backhanded shot inside the far post.
Duke stayed steady in the final 10 minutes, holding off a final charge by the Hawkeyes. Chepow tacked on one more save in the final minutes to finish her day with four stops.
The Blue Devils had a slight 13-12 edge in shots, including an 8-5 advantage in the second half. Iowa had eight penalty corners to Duke's six. Magnotta made five saves in goal.

Note

Duke improved to 28-20 in NCAA Championship action and 17-4 in first-round games. The Blue Devils are 1-1 against Iowa in postseason play.
The Blue Devils held the nation's leading scorer to one goal on nine shots. She entered the game averaging 1.42 goals per game on only 6.4 shots per game.
Head coach Pam Bustin captures her 350th career victory, becoming just the 13th Division I head coach to reach the benchmark.
Alaina McVeigh recorded her 15th goal of the season, tying for 24th on the Duke single-season chart. She is the sixth Blue Devil to record at least 15 goals in a season twice in her career and the first since Emmie Le Marchand in 2011 and 2013.
McVeigh's goal pushes her to 39 points this season and 104 for her career, ranking 20th and 10th, respectively.
Madison Beach recorded her 12th assist of the season to tie for 14th on the Duke single-season list. They are the most since Margaux Paolino's 14 in 2013.
Juliette Schulten registered her first career goal to tie the game for the Blue Devils.