COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The women's soccer team entered Friday night's Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal against No. 1 North Carolina polished like a new car. The only problem is the car was running out of gas.
The Blue Devils succumbed to the Tar Heels in the second half when they ran out of energy and ended up losing 4-0.
"I think the second half was the effects of us playing such a hard game against Virginia [on Thursday night]," Duke head coach Bill Hempen said. "You could just see it fading and fading and fading. Those kids--they played so hard, and it goes to 4-0 and you feel so bad for them. Hopefully we'll get a chance to rest, and maybe we'll be ready next time."
Facing the undefeated Tar Heels is never an easy task, but the Blue Devils found themselves behind the eight ball before the game even started because of two things--injuries and fatigue. Duke had to rebound after defeating the Cavaliers 1-0 the night before, and it had to do it with a weakened line-up as forwards Andi Melde and Emily Studebaker were still unable to play.
The crushing blow came for the Blue Devils early in the second half when defender Samantha Baggett went down with an injury and had to be taken out. North Carolina capitalized quickly, scoring twice in under 10 minutes to push its lead to 3-0.
First, on UNC's sixth corner kick of the game, a defensive lapse occurred and Tar Heel All-American Debbie Keller found herself wide open in the goal box. Keller took the corner and quickly headed into the net. Then, less than three minutes later, UNC forward Cindy Parlow scored from close range on a cross from Robyn Confer.
"When Sam went down, it forced us to move players around again," Hempen said. "We've been kind of doing this with Band-Aids and a roll of tape keeping it together, and they've been responding well. But when you come up against a North Carolina, it makes it that much more difficult to survive."
After that it was simply a matter of watching Duke slow down, like a wind-up doll that needs to be turned again. Visibly tired, the Blue Devils had nothing left to attack the Tar Heels with.
"[Fatigue] was certainly a factor and you could see that towards the end of the game," Hempen said. "I couldn't be more proud of the kids. It was a tremendous effort for them against Virginia [on Thursday] and then to come right back against Carolina."
The first half was a totally different story as Duke took it right to the Tar Heels. The Blue Devils were without an official shot until senior All-American Kelly Walbert recorded one with 0:40 left in the half, but Duke still had plenty of scoring opportunities.
The Blue Devils were much more physical in their second game versus UNC. In addition, Duke took advantage of the field conditions. While the Tar Heels waited for the ball to come to them on the muddy field, the Blue Devils went right to it. They were more aggressive, and it showed in the first half.
"[Duke] had stretches of that game that they dominated," Tar Heel head coach Anson Dorrance said. "I thought the first half was very even. Then I think fatigue took over for Duke in the second half, and we scored a couple [of goals].
"I think both teams can play at a lot higher level than we saw here today. The difficulty of negotiating this field was a part of the problem for both teams."
The final result was worse this time around, as Duke lost to UNC 4-1 in the first battle this season. But it was obvious that Hempen was more pleased with the effort the Blue Devils put forth. Their only troublesome area against UNC was an inconsistent offensive push forward.
"We have a tendency to play a lot more defense against [UNC], and we end up attacking with only one or two players," Walbert said. "We're not going to be able to win a game when we attack only one or two players against four or five defenders. So we just have to find a way to have our team move up and down the field a little better."
It's quite possible that the two teams will meet again in postseason play. Pairings for the NCAA tournament will be announced today. This year, unlike the past two, the top eight seeds will receive a first-round bye, and all other teams will be located according to geographic proximity.
That could allow Duke to receive a bye and not have to face the Tar Heels until deep into the tournament. In the two years previous to this one, the Blue Devils have lost to UNC in the second round of the NCAAs.
"I think we'll see this Duke team again this year," Dorrance said. "They're a very good team. They've had a good enough season where the NCAA should not put them in our bracket. I think they should be in a position to get a first-round bye.
"We wish Duke the best, we hope they're in a different bracket and we hope we don't have to play them until the national championship. I think they've played the kind of season that would warrant them being seeded away from us."
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