Six days removed from a historic victory against the Tar Heels, Duke showed no signs of a North Carolina hangover.
The No. 22 Blue Devils continued their string of strong offensive performances as they defeated Pittsburgh 3-1 Thursday night at Koskinen Stadium, paced by a pair of goals by sophomore midfielder Ashton Miller. The win comes in the wake of a win against then-No. 7 North Carolina that gave the team a boost of momentum heading into its final stretch of the season, but also created elevated expectations for Thursday’s matchup.
“I knew this was going to be the hardest game of the year,” Duke head coach Robbie Church said. “There was not question about that…. Good teams find a way to win those games, and we [found that].”
Duke (9-4-4, 3-2-3 in the ACC) opened the match with a strong effort that yielded several scoring chances, but Pittsburgh (10-5-1, 4-4-0) broke the scoreless draw. A Christina Gibbons turnover in Duke territory led to a shot on goal by the Panthers' Taylor Pryce that bounced off the hands of diving goalkeeper E.J. Proctor but rebounded to forward Sarah Krause. With Proctor still recovering from her earlier effort against Pryce, Krause easily found the back of the net as Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.
Pittsburgh entered the contest a perfect 9-0-0 when it scored the opening goal—but that streak came to an end Thursday.
Although the Panthers pulled out ahead early, it didn’t take the Blue Devils long to respond with two long-range goals of their own. Dialing up the same connection that sent Duke past the Tar Heels Friday in Chapel Hill, Miller found classmate Imani Dorsey from just outside the penalty box, allowing Dorsey to fire away at the Pittsburgh goal. The Elkridge, Md., native's shot sailed past goalkeeper Taylor Francis to bring the contest to an even 1-1 in the 30th minute.
Just more than a minute later, Miller notched a goal of her own, launching a deep shot from the 27-yard mark that gave the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead. In a span of eight minutes, Duke not only overcame an early deficit, but also gave itself a buffer that carried the team into the locker room.
“Going one [goal] down, I think it was great just to contribute to the win,” Miller said. “Honestly, I would say I didn’t play my best, but [by] putting in some goals I helped the team, and that’s all that matters.”
The beginning of the second half lacked the excitement of the first, as both teams had several scoring opportunities but failed to convert. One of Pittsburgh’s best opportunities to tie the Blue Devils came in the 77th minute, when Pryce dribbled herself into a breakaway down the left side of the field that left her one-on-one with Proctor. Price delivered a forceful strike, but the Duke sophomore deflected the shot back into open territory and prevent a tying goal.
Proctor's scoreless streak came to an end Thursday at 325:50 minutes, but the Wilson, N.C., native made enough plays to prevent the Panthers from clawing back into contention.
“E.J. Proctor made some unbelievable saves when the game was 2-1,” Church said. “She made at least three good saves that [gave us] a little cushion at the end.”
The Blue Devils—who outshot Pittsburgh 22-14—sealed the victory coming down the stretch with a second goal by Miller, who returned to the pitch after being removed from the game briefly in the second half. The Okemos, Mich., native—who doubled her goal total for the season with Thursday's two-goal performance—controlled a teammate’s deflected pass and sent the ball into Pittsburgh goal from the right-center of the penalty box.
“[Miller’s] standards are very, very high. She’s had a fantastic year for us,” Church said. “I was impressed when she came back [from being substituted out] and [was] able to find that goal.”
Despite the team’s potent offensive showing, Church said he saw room for improvement in the defensive third and noted that there are multiple things to work on as the Blue Devils prepare for another difficult match against No. 15 Notre Dame Sunday at 1 p.m. in their second-to-last regular season game.
“We actually gave more shots and more scoring opportunities away today than we have for the last three or four games, so we need to tighten up defensively,” Church said. “We need to get our lines a little bit tighter coming in and we need to battle a little bit more, but we’ll be more than fine on Sunday.”
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