It may not have been exactly what they wanted, but it may be what they needed.
The No. 18 women's soccer team tied No. 4 Portland 1-1 on Saturday afternoon and defeated Florida State on Sunday 3-0, raising their season record to 3-3-1 (1-1 in the Atlantic CoastConference). After a slow start, this marks the first time the Blue Devils have been at .500 all year.
"I think we're starting to climb back up," Duke junior Andi Melde said.
Duke jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against the Pilots when junior sweeper Lauren Cyran converted a penalty kick with 29:26 left in the first half. The kick was awarded when Sherrill Kester was taken down inside the penalty box.
"[Blue Devil head coach Bill Hempen] had said before in practice that he wanted me to take [a penalty kick] if we had it in the game," Cyran said. "I thought 'what are the chances of us having a PK?'"
Cyran did not let opportunity pass her by as she drilled a low shot to the right of Portland goalie Cheryl Loveless. Cyran's goal was the first of her long college career in which she has started 43 of 45 games.
The Blue Devils are a team with something to prove, and they played that way. Duke repeatedly beat Portland to loose balls, and dominated balls played in the air. The play of Duke's midfield allowed them to control the pace and style of the game from the start.
"I think it's a good midfield," Hempen said. "We've moved [senior] Mandy Lehr into the midfield and she's just a dominating player. With [junior] Kari Juncker and [sophomore Kristy] Whelchel, those are three pretty good players. [Portland] has one real good player and two hard-working players. We were able to win the individual battles in the middle."
Portland evened the score early in the second half on an apparent miscommunication by the Duke defense. After an unsuccessful attempt to clear the ball by Duke, Portland junior Justi Baumgardt played a long ball to the right corner of the Duke box. Blue Devil goalkeeper Dana Piper came out of the net, but was beaten to the ball by Portland forward Regina Holan, who took one dribble to her left and then rolled the ball into the empty net.
"I was hoping we wouldn't give up a counter attack and we did," said Hempen. "That was the one time [Portland] got through, and we didn't play it very well and they scored."
Duke reacted well to the Portland goal, continuing its midfield dominance and directing its attack down the left side of the field for the remainder of the second half. Despite the sustained offensive pressure and 10 total corner kicks by the Blue Devils, the score remained tied through the end of regulation.
Throughout the two overtime periods, play was less intense as both the Blue Devils and the Pilots showed their fatigue. The play concentrated on the center of the field, and there were few good scoring opportunities for either team.
Despite the fact that they had tied the 4th-ranked team in the nation, the Blue Devils left the game feeling somewhat disappointed that they had not won.
"It's not what we wanted, but we played well," Melde said. "We had our chances and that's been the story of our lives for the beginning of the season."
After the emotional tie with Portland, it seemed as if Duke could have been headed for a let down against Atlantic Coast Conference rival Florida State. After all, Duke had problems earlier in the season with UNC-Greensboro, a team similar in nature to the Seminoles.
"[It's hard to] come back 24 hours after a real emotional overtime battle and have enough to beat a pretty decent Florida State team," Hempen said. "We were ripe for an upset but the kids just didn't let it happen."
The Blue Devils of a few weeks past may have had trouble, but on this day Duke had no trouble focusing on the task at hand and soundly defeated the Seminoles. The Blue Devils had no trouble putting the ball into the net. The first goal was scored with 18:55 left in the first half as Melde dribbled through the middle of the Seminole defense and blasted a shot past goalie Melissa Juhl.
"I've wanted to score for the last six games," Melde said. "I had [the ball] on my left foot but I wanted it on my right so I cut it back. I just closed my eyes and hoped it would go in. Maybe that's what I should do from now on. But it definitely feels good to get one in there."
Cyran added a second goal for the Blue Devils off of a corner kick midway through the second half. Though the ball was cleared by the Seminole defense, Cyran collected it and scored from the left side of the field.
The final Duke goal of the afternoon was set up by Cyran, who led freshman Kim Daws to the top right side of the Florida State box with a long diagonal pass. Daws took a dribble and passed to freshman Emily Feeney, who finished strongly from the left side of the goal.
The Blue Devil reserves played a key role in putting the Seminoles away with the final two goals. Both goals occurred after many starters, including leading scorer Whelchel, were substituted for in the second half.
"These kids wait for an opportunity [to play]," said Hempen. "The level almost went up when they went in. They were excited about playing and that was a positive. These are kids that we have to train against every day and they did a really good job."
Though the Blue Devils could have been happier with the outcome of the Portland game, this weekend was definitely a step in the right direction for Duke.
"We've been through a lot as far as trying to find ourselves as a group," Hempen said. "We were trying to figure out who the role players were and who the starters were and I think we're pretty set with that [now]."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.