Blue Devils Down Liberty in Barnburner Shootout

Sunday, October 25

Lynchburg, Va.

1 p.m.

Duke University

(12-3)

Liberty

(11-5)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Final F
Duke	0	3	0	1	0	0	1	5
Liberty	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	4

Box Score (PDF)

Julia Boehringer and Madison Beach high five after a Duke goal

Photo by: Duke Athletics

10/25/2026 4:20:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Seventh-ranked Duke secured its sixth consecutive victory over a ranked opponent this season, powering past No. 12 Liberty in a non-conference barnburner Sunday afternoon. After 75 minutes of field hockey action saw the teams deadlocked at four apiece, the Blue Devils (12-3) blanked the Flames (11-5) in the shootout (3-0) to capture the 5-4 victory.

The Blue Devil offense was powered by Julia Boehringer's second-career hat trick, with the junior becoming the first Duke player since Erin Scherrer (Sept. 16, 2018) to post a hat trick against a ranked opponent. Graduate student Alaina McVeigh chipped in a goal and two assists to finish with three points on the afternoon to push her 2026 total to 23, making her just the sixth Blue Devil all-time to produce 20-plus points in all four seasons. Junior Madison Beach also tallied a pair of assists to give her six dimes on the year.

Junior Kaiya Chepow had a solid day in the goal cage with six saves, highlighted by a pair of crucial stops down the stretch of the fourth quarter and overtime. Chepow was a defensive stalwart in the shootout as she shutdown all three attempts by the Flames.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Liberty opened the scoring in the ninth minute, converting on its second penalty corner of the game for a 1-0 lead at 8:27. The home team doubled the advantage in the 14th minute on a counterattack goal and held a 2-0 margin after the opening 15 minutes.
Duke upped the intensity in the second quarter, peppering the Liberty defense with three shots in the first two minutes and forcing the Flames to make a couple saves.
The aggressiveness came to fruition as the Blue Devils netted a pair of goals at 16:55 and 19:16 to draw even at 2-2. Both tallies came off the stick of Boehringer on the attacking penalty corner, with the junior slotting her shots into the bottom-right corner of the net. Both goals were assisted by Beach and McVeigh. The set-piece conversions were the Blue Devils' 18th and 19th of the year. Two minutes later, Boehringer cashed in a penalty stroke to give the Munich, Germany, native her second-career hat trick, and Duke a 3-2 lead at 22:17.
Liberty was able to halt the momentum, leveling the score, 3-3, with a goal at 26:32.
Duke outshot the Flames 14-7 in the opening half (8-3 in the second quarter), including a 6-5 edge in shots on goal and a 5-4 margin on set pieces.
Following an explosive first half, offense was at a minimum in the third quarter. Liberty retook a 4-3 lead midway through the period on Alexia Guedouar's reverse blast into the lower left corner at 37:04. The Flames owned a 3-1 advantage in shots during the session and took a one-goal edge into the fourth.
The Blue Devils found an equalizer at the 52:24 mark on their third set-piece conversion of the afternoon. This time it was McVeigh with the goal on the rebound, with the graduate student drilling her shot into the left post to knot the game 4-4.
Both teams created some late quality chances during the last seven minutes but couldn't find the back of the cage, and the sides headed to overtime tied at four apiece.
The extra session saw no change on the scoreboard, and Duke and Liberty headed to a shootout to determine the winner. The Blue Devils blanked Liberty, 3-0, in the shootout to collect their 12th victory of the season.

GAME NOTES:

The Blue Devils capture their sixth consecutive win over an NFHCA top-20 team and improve to 12-3 overall. Duke is now 6-2 this season against ranked foes.
Duke snaps a two-game skid to Liberty and moves to 8-4 all-time against the Flames.
The Blue Devils finish the 2026 slate with a 6-2 record in non-conference action and a 5-1 mark in true road games.
Pam Bustin posts her 200th win at Duke and now owns 362 victories for her career.
The Blue Devils improve to 4-3 this season in overtime games and 2-1 in shootouts.
Boehringer posted her second-career hat trick, tying a career high with three goals and pushing her season total to 15 points (6g, 3a). She is the first Blue Devil since Erin Scherrer on Sept. 16, 2018 to net a hat trick against a ranked opponent.
With her four points (1g, 2a) against Liberty, McVeigh becomes just the sixth Duke field hockey player all-time to record 20-plus points in all four seasons. The Landsdale, Pennsylvania, standout owns 23 points (8g, 7a) on the year and moves into a tie for eighth on the Duke career charts with 127 (53g, 21a).
Beach produced her second multi-assist outing of the season and has six helpers in 2026. The Northbrook, Illinois, product now owns eight points (1g, 6a) on the year.
Chepow posted her seventh game this season with multiple saves and moves to 12-3 overall. The six stops check in as her second-most in 2026.
Duke finished the game with a 23-15 advantage on shots and generated 10 penalty corners to Liberty's six.

UP NEXT:
The Blue Devils cap the 2026 regular season Oct. 30 with the Tobacco Road rivalry match, hosting No. 9 North Carolina at 6 p.m. on Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium, live on the ACC Network.

#GoDuke