Duke Heads to Evanston for Pair of Top-Five Outings

The Opening Hit

• Duke travels to Evanston, Illinois to take on No. 1 Northwestern and No. 4 Maryland. Both games will be available with a field hockey subscription purchase on B1G+. Links are available on GoDuke.com. 
• Duke enters the ACC/B1G Cup after an outstanding opening weekend. The Blue Devils defeated William & Mary, 5-0, in the opener and returned Sunday to down UMass Lowell, 3-1. Duke dominated action in both games, outshooting the two opponents 45-5. The Blue Devils held William & Mary without a shot.
• The fifth-ranked Blue Devils play a pair of top-five teams in No. 1 Northwestern and No. 4 Maryland. It is the second consecutive season Duke will take on two top-five programs in a single weekend and just the second time overall under head coach Pam Bustin. The Blue Devils aim to upend a top-ranked team in the regular season for the first time since 2013 – a 3-2 shootout victory over North Carolina.
• The weekend will be a homecoming for freshman Madison Beach, who grew up nearby in Northbrook, Ill. Beach played for Windy City Field Hockey Club and attended Glenbrook North High School 10 miles away from Lakeside Field.

By the Numbers
6 – Points needed by junior Alaina McVeigh to become the 43rd Blue Devil to record 50 career points
1.76 – Career points per game average for McVeigh with 44 points in 25 outings
28 – Shots fired by the Blue Devils in their season-opening win over William & Mary
5 – Shots allowed by the Blue Devils in the 2-0 opening weekend
6 – Different goal scorers for the Blue Devils in the first weekend of the season, including one first-time scorer in Kyle Massey
10 – Contests in 2024 against teams that finished ranked in the top 20 in 2023
970 – Combined wins for Duke head coach Pam Bustin and Maryland head coach Missy Meharg heading into the weekend
164 – Duke wins for head coach Pam Bustin, the most wins by a  head coach in program history
 
Duke in the ACC/B1G Cup

• Duke plays Northwestern and Maryland in the ACC/BIG Cup for the ninth time. The Blue Devils have faced the Wildcats and Maryland every season since 2015, except the 2020 campaign and are 10-6 all-time in the event. Duke went 9-1 in the first five tournaments, before a three-year win drought. Duke defeated Maryland and fell to Northwestern last season in College Park.

 
Homecoming for Madison…