The fifth-ranked women's soccer team, which entered this weekend's adidas/Lady Foot Locker Classic 5-0, had yet to allow a single goal. The squad which left South Bend, Ind., Sunday lost both its games by a combined 8-0 score.
But it wasn't Duke (5-2) that changed so much as its opponents. Portland, which defeated the Blue Devils 3-0 Friday night, is No. 6 in the country and has appeared in each of the past three Final Fours. Not to be outdone, Notre Dame, which beat Duke 5-0 Sunday afternoon, is ranked second and has appeared in each of the last three NCAA Championship games, winning the national title in 1995.
"We went up against two of the best teams in the country," Blue Devil coach Bill Hempen said. "The polls are one thing, but when you get out there on the field it's another. I knew it'd be a struggle."
Regardless of the final scores, the coach said he was more disappointed with the loss to the Pilots. Portland (4-2) came into the tournament losers of two straight, which put them in a situation similar to Duke's last season, when the Blue Devils started off 0-3, Hempen said.
Wynne McIntosh became the first player to score versus Duke this year 21:42 into the game when she redirected a cross from the left wing into the upper right corner of the net, putting the Pilots up 1-0. Justi Baumgardt and Jenna Johnson added goals 11:56 and 15:55 into the second half, respectively, for the 3-0 final.
"They played with a little more fire," Hempen said. "They felt like they had to go out and prove they're not a 3-2 team.
"They were beating us to balls. They just played harder than we did. We let them take charge of the game."
Portland outshot the Blue Devils 17-5 for the contest. Freshman goalie Isis Dallis made five saves for Duke while playing the entire game. Dallis had been splitting time with junior Dana Piper, but Hempen said he felt that the freshman was hot Friday, and that the two would still continue to platoon.
Both players actually started on Sunday--Piper in goal, and Dallis on defense. The Blue Devils held Notre Dame (7-0-1) scoreless until 35:38 into the first half, when Monica Gonzalez scored what Hempen called a "fluke" goal. Less than 10 minutes later Gonzalez struck again, and what had been a scoreless tie was suddenly 2-0 in the Fighting Irish's favor.
Just over nine minutes into the second half, Notre Dame's Anne Makinen, a freshman from Finland, collected a loose ball and fired it into the upper left hand corner of the goal from 25 yards out.
"You just don't see goals like that in women's soccer," Hempen said.
With Duke scrambling to make up the 3-0 deficit, the Fighting Irish added two more goals-Jenny Streiffer's first of the game and Makinen's second-late in the second half.
Up until this weekend, the Blue Devils had managed to win despite three veterans sidelined by knee injuries. But Hempen doesn't want to dwell on who he wasn't able to put out on the field.
"We'd like to have everyone, but we don't," he said. "It would be easy to say that-it's difficult when you're working with different players than you expected. But the people we're putting out there are still good players."
Seven freshmen have seen significant minutes for Duke, and their coach said he'd rather his young team play top teams like Notre Dame and Portland early in the season, so it'll know what to expect once the post-season rolls around. The Blue Devil rookies could also learn a lot from senior forward Andi Melde, who played through illness on Sunday.
"She's been a true senior leader for us," Hempen said. "You could tell she was sick-her eyes were all bloodshot. But she was just awesome today. She's quite a battler."
Melde should be 100 percent by Friday night, when Duke hosts No. 3 Virginia. The Cavaliers will be the third top-six opponent of the week, and the outcomes of the first two games will be fresh in the Blue Devils' minds.
"We'll find out how much they've learned in the next game," Hempen said. "I don't want them to try and forget it, but I don't want them to linger on it either. They have to get on to the next game."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.