After battling back from a two-goal second half deficit, No. 23 Liberty ultimately fell 4-3 at No. 3 Duke in overtime, Sunday afternoon at Jack Katz Stadium.

The Blue Devils' Margaux Paolino scored a backhanded goal from the left side of the circle 2:11 into the overtime session, assisted by Tessa Gote, giving the home side the victory. Duke improves to 2-0 with the triumph. Liberty is now 1-1 following the setback.

Scoring Summary
6' – DUKE – Caroline Andretta (Erin Scherrer)
16' – LIBERTY – Jill Bolton (Kendra Jones, Mallory Fortenbaugh) | Penalty Corner
28' – DUKE – Olivia Sahaydak (Lexi Davidson)
29' – DUKE – Haley Schleicher (Morgan Bitting) | Penalty Corner
48' – LIBERTY – Agueda Moroni (unassisted)
59' – LIBERTY – Lizzie Hamlett (Agueda Moroni) | Penalty Corner
73' (OVERTIME) – DUKE – Margaux Paolino (Tessa Gote)

Goalkeepers
W: Sami Steele 2-0, five saves   
L: Allison Schaefer 1-1, 11 saves

Turning Points
Trailing 3-1 at the break, Liberty mounted a comeback in the second half. Senior midfielder Agueda Moroni scored in the 48th minute, a diving backhanded shot from eight yards out into the right side, slicing the Duke lead to 3-2. At the 58:44 mark, freshman Lizzie Hamlett scored her first career goal, a tip on a short corner, to even the game at 3-3.

The Lady Flames fended off three consecutive penalty corners on two different occasions over the final 22 minutes of regulation. The second string of those short corners came with no time remaining. The Liberty defense stood tall, forcing overtime in the process.

After Liberty was assessed a yellow card just 1:45 into the 7-on-7 overtime session, the Blue Devils capitalized on the one-player advantage opportunity. Gote found Paolino on the edge of the circle, who buried a backhanded strike past a converging Schaefer for her first marker of 2018, the game winner.

Key Stats & Notes

• Duke's Caroline Andretta opened the scoring, scoring on a feed from Erin Scherrer at the 5:28 to make it 1-0, Blue Devils.
• Sophomore midfielder Jill Bolton recorded Liberty's first goal of the day (16th minute), her first of the season and 10th of her young career. The Souderton, Pa., native ripped a shot into the right corner of the cage following an insert from sophomore Mallory Fortenbaugh and stick stop from Kendra Jones.
• The Blue Devils scored two unanswered goals just 1:35 apart (27:07, 28:42 marks) to close the first half with a 3-1 lead. Olivia Sahaydak and Haley Schleicher each tallied their first markers of the year to push the hosts' lead to two goals.
• The Blue Devils outshot the Lady Flames 26-10 on the day, including a 15-8 advantage in shots on cage. Liberty's Moroni paced the squad with three shots, followed by Hamlett and Bolton with two shots apiece.
• Liberty drew fifth of the first six penalty corners of the game, but Duke wound up with a 10-8 edge in the category, this afternoon.
• Lady Flames junior goalkeeper Allison Schaefer made 11 saves on the day. Two years ago (Aug. 28, 2016) Schaefer made 12 saves at Duke as a freshman, her career high which she has achieved two times. Schaefer has 15 saves and a .750 save percentage through two matches.
• Liberty's Moroni closed out the weekend with 11 points in two games. Moroni, who had 46 points a year ago in 19 contests, now has 80 career points (fifth in program history).
• This was the second straight year that Liberty and Duke went to overtime. In both instances, the Blue Devils snuck by the Lady Flames, 4-3. Liberty is now 0-5 all-time against Duke.

Up Next
The Lady Flames will be back on the pitch next weekend in the state of Ohio. On Friday, Liberty will play at Kent State (0-2) a 1 p.m. The Lady Flames will then play at Ohio (0-2), Sunday at 1 p.m. Liberty defeated Kent State 7-2 last year and is 2-0 all-time against Ohio.