Midfielder Casey McCluskey looked to the sky and buried her face in her hands. Florida goalkeeper Brittni Goodwin had just ranged out of position as the ball had squirted free, landing right at the feet of the Duke senior. With a great chance to knot the game at 2-2 five minutes into the second half, McCluskey shot the ball high over the crossbar. Duke never really threatened again, as No. 12 Florida scored three more goals to win 5-1.
“The shot that I had missed... [isn’t] really anything that you can practice,” McCluskey said. “It’s just you have to have composure and try not to choke and [I] did.”
In the second game of the Nike Carolina Classic at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, the women’s soccer team (2-2) fell to the Gators in a contest marked by physical play and the No. 18 Blue Devils’ failure to convert on many first-half scoring opportunities. Despite controlling the opening stanza, Duke trailed 2-1, and Florida (3-1) came out and dominated the second half.
“We actually played some of our best soccer that we’ve played in a long time; I though we were going to win the game going into the second half,” head coach Robbie Church said. “But their commitment level was much stronger than our commitment level was in the second half.... At the start of the second half we had two great opportunities to tie the game and when we didn’t tie it, they were relieved, and then they really took it to us.”
Church expected Florida to play a physical game and was proud of his players’ ability to match the Gators’ toughness in the first half. He did, however, say the Gators physical play helped the opposition to control the second half.
“It wore on us a little bit and we backed down some,” Church said. “We have to handle physical teams because a lot of teams are going to be physical with us. We’re a very skillful team and they know that’s one way they can destroy us.”
Freshman Lorraine Quinn was a casualty of the Gator’s physical play, suffering a concussion after colliding with Florida’s Melanie Booth.
After McCluskey’s misfire at the start of the second half, Florida controlled the next 20 minutes and finally broke the game open with a goal at 71:20. Booth’s corner kick skimmed off the head of a Blue Devil defender before Gator forward Ashley Kellgren buried the shot to make it 3-1.
Church then made a tactical change, removing one of his defenders and inserting another forward to try to stir the Duke offense. The shift backfired and the Gators collected two goals in the next seven minutes, exposing a stretched and depleted Blue Devil defense. Kellgren put the final goal of the match past Duke goalkeeper Allison Lipsher on a breakaway for her third score.
“We opened up more gaps in the back because we wanted to push players forward so we could score more goals,” defender Heidi Hollenbeck said. “That’s a risk that you’re willing to take at that point in the game.”
The game began with an offensive flurry, as the teams combined for three goals before the middle of the period. Although Duke dominated the early part of the half, Florida scored the first two goals of the match, both on what Church called Blue Devil mistakes.
Kellgren notched the first goal on a cross from Booth in the seventh minute and forward Christine Johnson scored on a set play in the 17th minute. Duke played well in between the two Gator goals, as midfielders Rebecca Moros and Darby Kroyer each had good opportunities but were unable to capitalize.
The Blue Devils finally did get on the board less than a minute after Florida’s second goal. Defender Heidi Hollenbeck headed in Moros’s corner kick for her first career goal.
The Blue Devils defeated Kennesaw State, 1-0 Friday. McCluskey scored the lone goal in the first half on an assist from Quinn. The tally moved the three-time All-ACC performer into sole possession of fourth place on Duke’s all-time goals scored list.
The Blue Devils leave Wednesday for two games in Hawaii. Duke matches up against Hawaii and Long Beach State Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.