Thora Helgadottir could not have picked a better time to play the game of her life.
Not only did the Duke goalie shut out the Virginia Cavaliers in the first round of the freshman's first ACC tournament, she was able to take the shootout victory with her parents, who flew in all the way from their home in Kopavogur, Iceland, in the stands.
"It's great that [my parents] could make it here," Helgadottir said. "Actually, they're on their summer vacation, so this is real fun."
Fun because, after two scoreless halves and two scoreless overtime periods, Helgadottir was able to stop three Virginia penalty kicks in the game-ending shootout.
Even with Helgadottir's stinginess in goal, the Blue Devils would not have had the opportunity to win had it not been for the heroics of their penalty kickers. In Duke's first four penalty kicks, three Blue Devils-senior Kim Daws, sophomore Liz Wagner and junior Katie Heaps-were able to knock goals past UVa's Jodi Clugston, which putting the pressure on the visitors.
Virginia, though, didn't relent as forward Alyssa Benitez slid a shot past Helgadottir on the Cavaliers' second kick, and defender Ashley Meeker beat the Iceland native on the fourth.
After a miss by Duke's Margaret Lea, Virginia had the opportunity to prolong the game when midfielder Kelly Worden prepared for her shot, but she was stopped by Helgadottir. That seemed to signal the end of the game, until a member of the officiating crew controversially pronounced Helgadottir had illegally moved before Worden's shot, a violation that gave Worden another opportunity to tie.
The Virginia sophomore promptly knocked her shot past Helgadottir to bring the shootout to sudden death, much to the dismay of the Duke goalkeeper and the partisan Duke crowd.
Still, after the contest, Blue Devil coach Bill Hempen quite judicious with his words concerning the questionable call.
"I was in no position to see anything," Hempen admitted. "I can't argue with anything. But we missed some opportunities that we could have nicked away and so did they."
One Duke player, though, who did not miss an opportunity was junior forward Stefanie Kraay, who crushed her penalty kick into the upper right corner of the goal on the ensuing shot. And this time, when UVa junior midfielder Laura Gaworecki was stopped by Helgadottir, the referees made no signal, finally giving Duke the victory.
The win was a sweet one for the Blue Devils, who avenged an Oct. 21 4-3 loss in Charlottesville. In addition, the victory allows Duke to advance to the second round of the ACC tournament on its home field.
"When you play a close game at home, chances are, the home team is going to win," Hempen said. "I didn't expect penalty kicks, and it doesn't [officially] count as a win, but it means we get to advance. We're very pleased with the outcome of tonight's contest."
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