The 10th-ranked women’s soccer team (11-3, 4-1 in the ACC) kicked into gear during the second half of Tuesday night’s game. After a slow start, Duke battled its way to a 3-0 victory over N.C. State (7-5-2, 1-5).
“[It was] night and day,” said head coach Robbie Church of the difference between the team’s play before and after the half. “They’re a tough group and they literally made a decision and collectively made a decision that ‘Hey, we want to go out and win this game,’ and so their play stepped up a level in the second half.”
Junior defender Carolyn Ford opened the scoring less than two minutes into the second period, firing a quick shot into the top left corner of the net from the top of the box.
“It felt good,” Ford said. “But it’s just a reflection of everyone else’s hard work—mine happened to go in.”
Junior defender Heidi Hollenbeck’s sharp header from the center of the box off of sophomore Rebecca Moros’ corner kick gave the Blue Devils a 2-0 cushion. Moros later capped Duke’s scoring, rocketing a direct kick past the hands of Wolfpack goalkeeper Megan Connors from the left edge of the 18-yard box.
“When the keeper was to the far side, I couldn’t drop the ball in to a teammate, so I just took a shot,” Moros said.
Although they did not get on the board until the second half, the Blue Devils fired 22 shots, 11 in each period. N.C. State, however, posted only one shot on goal, which was saved by freshman goalkeeper Allison Lipsher to notch her sixth shutout of the season.
Tuesday’s game marked Duke’s 10th shutout in 14 games this season. Duke maintains its spotless 6-0 home record.
“For this type of game and where it sits in the schedule.... I’m thrilled having a three-nothing victory over State,” said Church.
The Blue Devils lost 2-1 to fifth-ranked Virginia Saturday. Duke fought throughout the game to catch up to the Cavaliers, who put two goals on the board early. Senior midfielder Casey McCluskey pulled Duke to within one with less than 10 minutes left on the clock, but the Blue Devils could not come all the way back.
“It was a beautiful goal, but we had been on the attack for about 25 minutes,” said Church. “We knew if we got one goal we’d put the pressure back on Virginia—and we did—but we were unable to get the second goal.”
Church was happy with the team’s level of play against national powerhouse Virginia (10-1-1, 3-1-1 in the ACC), a possible ACC Tournament opponent, and said both of Cavalier Shannon Foley’s goals came on Blue Devil mistakes.
“Sometimes you play well, and you lose,” said Church. “It was a fair result that they won 2-1, but we hope to see them again down the road.”
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