No. 5 Duke Falls to No. 17 Liberty, 4-3

Friday, August 29

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

(0-1, 0-0)

Liberty

(1-0, 0-0)

Liberty

Duke

No. 5 Duke Falls to No. 17 Liberty, 4-3

8/29/2025 6:53:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C.— The fifth-ranked Duke field hockey team jumped out to a 3-0 lead but couldn't hold off a second-half surge by No. 17 Liberty, falling to the Flames, 4-3 Friday evening on Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium.

Three different Blue Devils scored their first collegiate goals as Duke built a 3-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. Liberty snuck a goal in minutes prior to halftime to make it 3-1 at the break and tacked on three more in the second half to earn the season-opening win.

How it Happened

Duke got on the scoresheet in the third minute as Ashley Stockdale redirected Julia Boehringer's shot off the penalty corner for the 1-0 lead. Alaina McVeigh provided the insert to Madison Beach. Boehringer sent her sweep to the right post where Stockdale pushed it over the goal line.
With the Blue Devils dominating possession, Duke doubled its lead with another goal off a penalty corner. This time it was Fidalgo Schioppa knocking in a rebound from Liberty goalie Diane Saint Martin's save off a Macy Szukics sweep.
Two minutes into the second quarter, Maggie Kondrath forced a Liberty turnover inside the circle and finished a beautiful reverse backhand into the cage for the 3-0 lead.
Just over four minutes before the halftime whistle blew, Liberty cut into the Duke lead with a Dara Semmartin finish off the penalty corner. The Blue Devils led 5-3 in shots in the first half with both teams earning a pair of corners.
The Flames came out on the front foot in the third quarter as Josefina Tomasi rocketed a shot past Duke goaltender Kaiya Chepow to make it a one-goal game just 1:53 into the frame.
With time winding down and overtime on the horizon, Liberty took advantage of its sixth penalty corner of the evening to secure the victory. Inserter Lou Combrinck scored the goal after Dara Semmartin found her teammate wide open for the tap in on the left post.
Both teams finished the game with nine shots. Saint Martin had four stops for the Flames, while Chepow finished with one save for Duke. The Blue Devils held a slight 7-6 edge in penalty corners.

Notes

Duke falls to 38-15-2 in season openers and 11-4 under head coach Pam Bustin.
The seven combined goals in the game mark the eighth time in 11 meetings between the two programs with at least five combined goals. For the fifth time in the past six meetings, the outcome between the Flames and Blue Devils was decided by a single goal.
Freshman Sofia Fidalgo Schioppa, sophomore Ashley Stockdale and junior Maggie Kondrath all notched their first collegiate goals, while sophomore Madison Beach had her first collegiate point with an assist.
Rookies Wozniak and Juliette Schulten both earned starts in their first collegiate game. Five freshmen overall saw action in the contest.