Saturday night in College Park the women’s soccer team wished the crossbar was just a little bit higher. Duke controlled the game from the start but was unable to muster a goal as several shots slammed off the pipes.
No. 10 Duke (12-5, 5-3 in the ACC) suffered an upset loss, dropping its penultimate regular season game to unranked Maryland (7-4-3, 3-4-2) in overtime. Scoreless at the end of regulation play, the match continued until the 97th minute when Terrapins forward Kimmy Francis beat two Blue Devil defenders to launch a shot into the net. Duke goalkeeper Allison Lipsher got a hand on the ball but could not make the save and allowed Maryland to edge out the Blue Devils 1-0.
“This was obviously a very disappointing loss in a game we feel like we should have won,” head coach Robbie Church said.
Duke was on offense for much of the game, attempting 21 shots, but it could not convert this effort into goals. Maryland goalkeeper Nikki Resnick made seven saves, to thwart the Blue Devil attempts to score.
Duke’s best chance came in the second half when a free kick opportunity gave star forward Casey McCluskey a clear shot on goal. Resnick deflected the shot, which landed at the feet of Blue Devil Rebecca Moros. Moros fired on an open goal, but hit the crossbar. Duke midfielder Lorraine Quinn had an opportunity to score on the rebound, but her shot sailed wide.
“It’s unfortunate we did not finish when we had the opportunity. When you don’t finish, you’re going to keep them around,” Church said.
Late in regulation play, the crossbar once again kept the Blue Devils off the scoreboard. Rachel-Rose Cohen missed a crucial shot from inside the box that deflected off the pipe. McCluskey, who came into the game as the team’s leader with 15 goals, failed to score despite taking five shots, two of which were on goal. The Blue Devils also did not capitalize on a pair of breakaways, one of which occurred five minutes into the game and another which Carolyn Riggs generated in the second half.
The Terps missed important opportunities as the crossbar also thwarted Maryland’s scoring attempts. Both a Mallory Mahar header in the eighth minute and a Simone Dekker shot from the right side in the 87th minute bounced off the goal.
Nevertheless, most of the match’s offensive strikes belonged to Duke, and Maryland’s attack only began to gain momentum toward the end of regulation play. Lipsher was not forced to make a save until the 94th minute when Maryland midfielder Stevie Dunning sailed an impressive bicycle kick toward the Duke net. Three minutes later, Francis scored the winning goal off a long pass from Mahar.
“There was never a time when they were in control,” Church said of the Terps’ offense. “The goal they scored was a breakdown.”
The loss comes at a time when the Blue Devils are fighting for ACC position for the upcoming conference tournament.
“We don’t have a chance to win [the ACC],” Church said. “We’ll finish anywhere from third to fifth.”
The Blue Devils now have to concentrate on moving on from this loss to prepare for what will undoubtedly be a tough contest at conference-leader No. 2 North Carolina Thursday in Chapel Hill.
“[The team] is obviously a little down,” Church said. “But we’re going to practice hard. We always enjoy playing North Carolina because they’re such a great team, and we’re looking forward to playing in Chapel Hill. It should be a good match.”
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