BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State University field hockey (4-8, 0-3 MAC) dropped a home contest to No. 4 Duke Sunday afternoon.
The Mountaineers wore gold shoelaces during Sunday's game to support the Go4TheGoal Foundation, which is an organization dedicated to supporting children who are battling cancer.
A high-powered Blue Devils' team came into Sunday's game 8-3 with seven wins over ranked opponents. Sunday's victory at Adcock Field marked Duke's sixth victory in seven games, including three wins over top-15 opponents during that span.
Appalachian applied pressure throughout the first half, earning five penalty corners. Sophomore
Veerle Van Heertum had Appalachian's best goal-scoring opportunity off of a first-half penalty corner, but Duke's Sammi Steele made a diving stop to save the goal.
Redshirt-freshman
Madison Nuckols made her second-straight start in goal for Appalachian. Nuckols posted three saves after facing 13 total shots from the Blue Devils. In the second half, junior
Rachel Gaines checked in for Nuckols and made six saves.
Van Heertum led Appalachian with two shots, one of which was on target. Junior
Melissa Nobile also recorded a shot on target in the second half.
The Blue Devils' Olivia Sahaydak netted a hat trick in Duke's 8-0 victory.
Appalachian closes out its season-long home stand Friday against St. Francis at 7 p.m.
