No. 17 Liberty shocks No. 5 Duke: weekend highlights from DI field hockey
No. 5 Duke drops opener to No. 17 Liberty in NCAA Division I field hockey.
The 2025 NCAA Division 1 field hockey season opened Friday with nail-biting finishes that had fans on the edge of their seats.
Here are a few of the upsets and close calls over Labor Day weekend.
No. 17 Liberty pulled off a stunning come-from-behind 4-3 upset over No. 5 Duke in Durham, North Carolina. The Blue Devils led the first half 3-0, but the Lady Flames found their game in the second. Captain Lou Combrinck’s, for the second year in a row, scored a fourth quarter game-winning goal against Duke. She had one goal and two assists in the game. Duke later rebounded from losing to Liberty in their second weekend game with a hard-fought 2-1 win over unranked American University.
No. 15 Iowa earned their first win of the season with a powerful 5-4 victory over No. 20 Wake Forest at the ACC/BigTen Challenge. After an initial setback in the first quarter, the Hawkeyes rallied, scoring three goals in just six minutes during the second. While they split their first two games, dropping their second match to No. 2 North Carolina with a score of 4-1, their opening weekend was a strong start.
No. 18 UAlbany had a close call against unranked Hofstra, securing a thrilling 3-2 victory in an intense finish. Graduate student Indy van Ek scored the winning goal in the fourth quarter, redirecting a corner shot. The Great Danes followed up that win with another victory against Wagner on Sunday, starting their 2025 campaign with a 2-0 record.
Ranked 9th in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association preseason poll, Saint Joseph’s had a perfect 2-0 weekend, proving they are a team to watch this season. They won a close 2-1 victory over No. 11 UConn, then followed up with a solid 2-0 win against New Hampshire.
No. 2 North Carolina opened with a 3-0 win over No. 4 Michigan at the ACC/Big10 Challenge and then followed up with a 4-1 win over No. 15 Iowa. Two ranked wins in three days makes a clear statement they’re the team to beat.
The No. 11 Syracuse field hockey team recently scored a total of 20 goals across two games, with a dominant 15-0 victory against Lock Haven and a solid 5-2 win against Fairfield. Their offensive lineup is going to be a force this season.
The No. 1 defending NCAA Division I champions, Northwestern, are set to take on unranked Virginia Commonwealth University today at noon. They started their season off with a 4-1 win against Richmond.
Score highlights from August 29 :
No. 18 Liberty @ No. 5 Duke, 4-3
No. 18 Penn State @ No. 3 Virginia, 1-5
Hofstra @ No. 18 UAlbany, 2-3
No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 7 Michigan, 3-0
No. 13 Ohio State @ Ball State, 7-0
No. 8 Boston College @ Maine, 2-0
Lock Haven 0-15 No. 11 Syracuse
No. 20 Wake Forest @ No. 15 Iowa, 4-5
No. 11 UConn @ New Hampshire, 4-3
No. 14 UMass, Amherst @ Vermont, 2-0
Stanford @ No. 4 Maryland, 1-3
Wagner @ No. 16 Rutgers, 1-5
Score highlights from August 30:
Indiana vs No. 8 Boston College, 1-2
No. 11 UConn vs No. 9 Saint Joseph’s, 1-2
Score highlights from August 31:
Fairfield @ No. 11 Syracuse, 2-5
No. 5 Duke @ American, 2-1
No. 16 Rutgers @ Vermont, 2-0
No. 14 UMass, Amherst @ UMass, Lowell, 3-0
No. 20 Wake Forest vs No. 7 Michigan, 1-2
No. 1 Northwestern @ Richmond, 4-0
No. 2 North Carolina @ No. 15 Iowa, 4-1
No. 9 Saint Joseph’s @ New Hampshire, 2-0
Villanova @ No. 4 Maryland, 0-4
Kent State @ No. 13 Ohio State, 3-9
No. 18 UAlbany vs Wagner, 3-1
Thank you for reading Female Athlete News. Sydney Madden is a student-intern at Penn State University.