COLLEGE PARK, Md. — People with heart problems should have consulted their doctors before attending Saturday’s thriller between a pair of top-five teams.
The No. 4 Terrapins’ 5-4 overtime victory over the No. 5 Blue Devils (10-3, 2-1 in the ACC) featured a two-goal, late-second-half comeback by the Blue Devils, three total penalty strokes and three saves on sudden-death overtime breakaways by Duke goalkeeper Christy Morgan.
Even though Terps’ (12-2, 2-1 in the ACC) midfielder Jackie Ciconte pushed her own rebound past Morgan with less than two minutes remaining in overtime, the Blue Devils knew they could not be dissatisfied with the result.
“This was really like a Final Four game, a championship game and we’ll see them again,” Duke coach Beth Bozman said. “I am so proud of the way we played today. We’ve been talking all season about playing with passion and heart and that’s absolutely what we played with today.”
Maryland went ahead 4-2 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game after Terps forward Colleen Barbieri’s shot from the right baseline bounced off a Blue Devil defender and into the cage. Bozman called a timeout to rally her team, giving them the confidence that helped it to its late surge.
“[Bozman] just got us to believe in ourselves,” forward Katie Grant said. “We were outplaying them, we were outshooting them, outhustling them, and she was like it’s going to fall, just keep going, don’t give up. She has this confidence in us, and once we see it in her, we start to believe it too.”
After the timeout, Duke came out firing. Less than three minutes later, forward Nicole Dudek streaked to the net off a long pass, but her shot was turned away towards the side of the net. Grant picked it up and took it toward the middle, giving it back to Dudek, who drew a penalty stroke.
Midfielder Johanna Bischof took the stroke, putting it past the Maryland goalkeeper to bring Duke to within one goal with 9:42 remaining.
The Blue Devils would strike again just 3:30 later on another penalty stroke. Forward Chrissie Murphy gathered in a long pass and drove toward the net. Maryland’s goalkeeper came out of her crease and tripped up Murphy. When the referee called a penalty stroke, the Terrapin coaches went into a frenzy to protest the call.
This time, midfielder Amy Stopford took the stroke, trickling a shot into the right side of the cage as Maryland’s goalkeeper fell for her fake and dove left.
Grant said that although the two goals came via penalty shots, they did not devalue Duke’s comeback.
“Chrissie [Murphy] was doing really well creating a lot of stuff in the circle in the second half, and creating a stroke is just as hard as getting a goal,” Grant said.
The teams played overtime at a breakneck pace. The Blue Devils and Terps raced up and down the field, with Maryland shaking off the Duke comeback and getting most of the good scoring chances, especially later in overtime. Morgan stood tall in goal, keeping the Blue Devils alive with sliding and diving saves on Terrapin breakaways. The senior made three of her six total saves in overtime.
“We’ve gone through it so many times in practice now that it’s just instinct,” Morgan said. “You just have to be confident and aggressive.”
The game was tied 1-1 at halftime, but Maryland had amassed more corners and scoring chances. Maryland’s goal came on a penalty stroke by forward Paula Infante, whose quick counter-attack gave her a hand in four Maryland goals. Duke tallied off a corner on a hard shot by Sorbello into the left side of the goal.
“They really dropped in and waited for us to come into them because we do have a lot of speed. They played a very good defensive game but we just kept plowing away,” Bozman said. “We knew they were very dangerous in their counterattack and we talked about it all week, and they were able to capitalize on it.”
The Blue Devils came out with renewed fire in the second half and were dominating the match even as Maryland quickly jumped out to a two-goal lead on goals by Infante and Ciconte within the first 10 minutes of the half. Stopford scored 16 minutes into the half, but Barbieri’s goal renewed the Terps’ two goal lead and set the stage for Duke’s comeback.
Sunday in College Park, the Blue Devils showed no ill effects from the loss, beating Villanova (8-4) 6-2. Grant scored three goals and recorded one assist, for her 10th career multi-goal game. Forwards Cara-Lynn Lopresti and Marcy Burns also recorded goals for the Blue Devils. Burns’ goal was her first collegiate tally.
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