The women's soccer team (5-5, 0-1 in the ACC) dropped two games this weekend, losing first to Maryland (6-3, 1-1) Friday before falling to Georgia (4-5-1) Sunday.
In both contest, the Blue Devils were on the short end of one-goal losses--including losing their ACC opener to the Terps. The losses mean that Duke returns to Durham after a roadtrip that stretched a winless streak to three.
On Sunday afternoon in Athens, Ga. the Georgia Bulldogs capitalized midway through the first half on a penalty shot by Carolyn Cayard, one of only two shots the Bulldogs produced all first half. The free kick was awarded to the Bulldogs after Tricia McKee was taken down inside the box.
Duke used its speed up front to attack Georgia throughout the game, but could not find the right combination of passes to beat goalkeeper Ashley Lindley, who served as the Bulldogs' key defender with seven saves. With two minutes remaining, it looked as though Duke had tied the game at one, but the referee ruled that the Blue Devils were offsides and game ended 1-0.
"It was really an unbelievable call," Church said. "It was a heartbreaking call at the end of the game. We thought we'd scored. We thought it went in and we had a lot of people tell us that it should have counted."
The Blue Devils once again outplayed their opposition offensively, but could not finish on any of their 14 shots. Sophomore Casey McCluskey lead the team with seven shots of her own, more than doubling the Bulldogs three shots for the entire game.
"We had great opportunities," Church said. "We hit a cross bar, he hit a goal post. I thought we played hard. After a tough loss Friday night and having to fly all the way to Atlanta, I was very proud at how the girls came out and played."
Friday night in College Park, Md., the unranked Terrapins ousted the No. 22 Blue Devils 3-2 in an offensive showcase. Maryland forward Katie Ludwig scored a goal and forced a penalty shot that teammate Kim King blasted past Duke goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir.
The Blue Devil netminder was playing her first minutes of the season Friday, after returning from Iceland where she was playing for the national team. Early in the first half, Maryland's Lindsay Givens threw the ball in from the sideline and it trickled past Helgadottir for a 1-0 Terrapin lead. The Blue Devils responded with seven minutes left in the half when freshman Carolyn Ford found fellow classmate Carolyn Riggs down field for a breakaway goal.
The second half began with the score at 1-1 but Ludwig quickly beat the Blue Devil defense for an unassisted goal. The Terrapins built upon their 2-1 lead after Duke defender Kate Siebert fouled Ludwig inside the penalty box. King netted her third goal against the Blue Devils in three games, and gave the Terrapins a 3-1 lead.
Duke fought back as Liz Wagner scored on a rebound in front of the Maryland goal in the 73rd minute. With the score 3-2 in favor of Maryland, Duke pushed the ball forward as the Terrapin defense collapsed into their own half to preserve the win.
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