COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The message must have been lost in the mail because the Duke field hockey team sure never received it.
With their 1-7 conference record, the Blue Devils (10-12 overall) were supposed to travel to College Park, Md., this weekend and serve as the sacrificial lamb in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. As the only unranked team in the field, Duke upset Wake Forest 2-1 in overtime on Friday and took No. 1 North Carolina to the limit before losing 2-1 on Saturday.
"We're a top 10 team, and I don't care what the polls say," senior Tamara Gehris said.
All year, the Blue Devils fell short of achieving a top-10 ranking with narrow losses to ACC foes. But this weekend, Duke finally displayed its potential.
Under cold, rainy skies on Friday, the Blue Devils went out looking for some revenge against No. 14 Wake Forest. After its second loss to Wake, Duke regrouped and began playing with an intensity that was often missing in previous games.
But things were even harder for the Blue Devils the third time around as All-ACC midfielder junior Jodie Taylor missed the tournament because of a sprained ankle. Sophomore sensation and ACC leading scorer Melissa Panasci was also hampered with a pulled back muscle. Panasci's 31 goals broke the ACC record for most goals in a season, which was previously held by Maryland's Lisa Buente 28 in 1990.
"Everyone knew that they had to play their hearts out, and that's what they did," head coach Jacki Silar said.
Without Taylor, Silar moved freshman Mary Jo Reider from her forward position to center midfielder and placed sophomore Cyndi Breyer at forward. Twenty-five minutes into the game, Wake's Amy Shenasky gave the Demon Deacons the 1-0 halftime lead off a defensive corner.
At the intermission, Silar told her team to pick up the speed of play and become more aggressive. That's what Duke did, as it outshot Wake 6-5 in the second half. With only 3:42 remaining in the game, Panasci did what she does best--find the back of the net. Panasci scored off a penalty stroke that was awarded after a corner.
"We were beating them to the ball in the second half," Silar said. "We didn't panic near the end of the second half. It really took us forever to score. We had the ball down in their zone for most of the half."
The game went to overtime where each team fields only seven players, four short of what field hockey teams use in regulation. And in overtime, the Blue Devils made short work of the Demon Deacons, as Gehris scored only five minutes into the extra session.
If Duke was the underdog against Wake, then it wasn't even in the picture against the best team in the land. Or at least, that is what people were supposed to think. After all, the Blue Devils have not beaten the Tar Heels in their last 28 attempts.
After weathering repeated UNC shots, thanks in large part to senior goalie Heather Moles, Duke broke through, literally. The ball slipped by the Tar Heel back line at the midfield line where freshman Emily Ford picked up the loose ball and raced on an unmolested breakaway. Ford then put a move on All-ACC goalie Jana Withrow, giving the Blue Devils the 1-0 lead with 8:38 remaining in the first half. Duke carried the lead into halftime and put Carolina in a very unfamiliar position. In its 19-0 season, UNC has only trailed twice, both times in the first half, and the Tar Heels have never been behind at halftime this year.
"[Scoring the goal] was a great feeling," Ford said. "It was a total team effort. I felt like all our hard work was coming together."
As the second stanza began, everyone knew that Carolina would come out fired up. But Duke came ready to play as well. The Blue Devils actually tallied four penalty corners to UNC's three in the second half, but they couldn't convert any of them. Meanwhile, Susannah Schott and and Kate Barber capitalized on two of Carolina's corners, giving the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead with 20 minutes remaining.
"I was really happy because we did pick it up in the second half," Silar said. "I told them that they have to believe that they can win. [I said], `If you don't believe that you can win, stay in the hotel and stay warm."'
For the remainder of the game, the Blue Devils became an old habit as they would not die easily. Duke kept the pressure up while keeping UNC's speedy forward in check from icing the game. Duke produced several offensive chances including several corners in the waning minutes. But the upset did not occur.
"It is so disappointing to come to the ACC tournament as the fifth seed and lose to the No. 1 team by only one goal," Panasci said. "We played so hard and played with everything we had. We had the game. It wasn't like they dominated the game. It was even."
With under a minute remaining, Duke tallied one last corner, but the ball sailed wide left summing up an entire season of near misses.
"I have been telling people forever that Duke is a top-10 team," UNC head coach Karen Shelton said. "They are just a couple of goals away. They have just had incredibly bad luck this year."
At least somebody heard that Duke shouldn't be overlooked. Unfortunately, it was North Carolina.
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