It’s win, tie or go home for the Blue Devils.
Duke will head to Tallahassee, Fla., for a matchup with No. 2 Florida State Friday at 7 p.m. at the Seminole Soccer Complex that will define its season. The Blue Devils are coming off of an overtime win at home against Boston College last Sunday, a game they could not lose in order to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. On Halloween, the stakes will be just as high, but against a much better team and on the road.
“If we didn’t win [against Boston College] we knew we would’ve been out of the NCAA tournament,” head coach Robbie Church said. “It’s basically like we’ve got two free NCAA tournament games is how we’re looking at it. That was the first round against Boston College and [the Florida State game] is a quarterfinal and we’ve got to win.”
Going into its final three games of the regular season, Duke (8-8-1, 4-4-1 in the ACC) needed at least a win and a draw to have a hope of continuing its season and qualifying for the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils were able to net an early goal in the first of those games against No. 3 Virginia but allowed three second-half goals to the offensive powerhouse in a 3-1 loss. Because of the defeat, the pressure built even higher for Duke as it now could not afford to lose either of its final two games.
The Blue Devils followed the Virginia match with a game against Boston College last Sunday. Duke allowed an early own goal in the first half but rallied despite the pressure in the second period to knot the score at 1-1. Less than two minutes into the first overtime period, sophomore Toni Payne was able to net the winner for the Blue Devils and keep the squad alive.
Friday, Duke will have to face off against a Florida State squad that has yet to drop a conference game and has only lost one game all season—a 2-1 defeat to now-No. 8 Florida Sept. 5. And although a tie would not necessarily eliminate the Blue Devils from postseason contention, a win certainly holds considerably more weight.
“We have to win to have an opportunity to go to the NCAA tournament,” Church said. “We’ve kind of been preparing for that for about a month. We’ve played a lot of games with a lot of pressure so that won’t be a big change…. So many positives are there that can lead us into Friday night.”
In terms of pure numbers, the Seminoles outmatch Duke both offensively and defensively.
Florida State (15-1-1, 8-0-1) ranks second in the ACC in total shots and shots per game, third in total goals and goals per game and first in assists. The Blue Devils rank sixth in shots and shots per game and eighth in goals, goals per game and assists.
In the defensive third, the Seminoles allow just 0.47 goals per game—almost a full goal per game lower than Duke’s 1.24 average—and have recorded 11 shutouts to the Blue Devils’ six. With this in mind, Duke will need to have its best game of the season if it wants to return to Durham with a win and a record above .500.
“We will have our chances,” Church said. “We’re going to play to win the game. We’re not going to sit back… We’re going to look to pressure them…. The key will be that we have to stick those opportunities [that we get].”
With such a young team, dealing with the pressure of a must-win game could be overwhelming. The Blue Devils will have to lean on players with experience playing in NCAA tournament games, such as senior forward Kelly Cobb and redshirt senior midfielder Gilda Doria, as well as those with experience playing in international tournaments like sophomore midfielder Christina Gibbons—who will be a gametime decision—to help guide and lead the younger players Friday.
The odds are stacked against the Blue Devils, but Church believes that his team will be able to rise to the occasion.
“It’s not an easy place to play but the schedule says we have to play down there so there’s no reason to say anything else about it,” Church said. “We’ve played such a tough schedule to prepare us for the NCAA tournament—to prepare us for this game… They know [the magnitude of this game], but we just have to focus on our performance.”
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