There's nothing like a little healthy competition to put that skip back in your step.
The ninth-ranked women's soccer team got an unexpected surprise from upstart Campbell Thursday night, but still managed to rally for a 3-2 win at Eakes Athletic Complex in Buies Creek, N.C.
Senior Andi Melde gave the Blue Devils (10-2, 3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) the win with just five seconds remaining in regulation when she dribbled in front of the Campbell goal before blasting a right-footed shot into the upper lefthand corner of the net.
"The kids were kind of shocked because that was probably as good a shot as we've seen Andi take," Duke coach Bill Hempen said. "We've seen her wind up and hit the ball into the next county, but tonight she got on it and with just incredible placement. Jason Kreis, a former men's player at Duke, used to hit a shot like that. It was a bomb."
Melde celebrated her game-winning score with a sort of victory lap.
"The few fans that were there were pretty obnoxious and Andi is not necessarily a crowd-pleaser for the opponent," Hempen said. "She basically made a dead sprint for their fans, because they had been giving her grief all night long, and she kind of reveled in that."
After a scoreless first half, the Camels (5-4-3) actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of second-half goals from Lindsey Vosloh (52nd minute) and Katie Karalunas (69th minute).
"Every team has games like this where it seems like every shot we take goes off the post or ends up just wide," Hempen said. "Campbell got maybe four chances on the night and they buried two of them. They put us in a big hole.... But we hung in there and did what they had to do, but no women's soccer team I've ever been around at Duke has ever come back under those circumstances, that late in a game."It took Duke eight minutes to answer Campbell as Melde got the Blue Devils on the scoreboard by beating Campbell goalie Michele Russell on a penalty kick after being taken down in the box.
Senior Samantha Baggett knocked in the equalizer just over two minutes later with a header, scored off a cross from Melde.
The final five minutes saw a flurry of shots as the Blue Devils twice had shots ricochet off the frame of the goal. With just over a minute to play, the Camels nearly finished off the Blue Devils, but a shot by Campbell's Courtney Gillman trickled just wide of the left post.
With the bullet dodged, Duke rushed down the field for one last shot. Freshman Kasey Truman was the catalyst for the winning goal when she fired a throw-in deep into the offensive zone, connecting with Melde on the final score and completing an impressive night for the senior forward.
"Two goals and an assist by Melde-that's not a bad night," Hempen said. "[Forward] Eleia Branch was also huge for us. We put her in for [defender] Snow Brenner, who also did a good job tonight, once we were down 2-0. She only played like 15 minutes, but she set up Andi's penalty kick and sparked our offense."
For the game, Duke outshot the Camels 16-6 while Campbell committed 17 fouls to Duke's nine.
The Blue Devils return to action Tuesday night when they face UNC-Greensboro at Duke Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m. As of Thursday, the Spartans were off to a school-record 10-2 start, including a 4-0 mark in the Southern Conference.
The Spartans are led by junior All-America Ali Lord, who has 10 goals on the season. UNC-G also easily dismissed Duke's Thursday night opponent, Campbell, 5-0 earlier this year.
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