Home-field advantage means a lot to most teams, and Duke found out this weekend just how valuable a friendly crowd can be.
The Blue Devils split two games over the weekend, losing 2-1 Friday to No. 14 Florida at rowdy James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., and easing by Alabama A&M 8-0 at Koskinen Stadium in Durham Sunday.
Duke (3-3-1) fought valiantly against the Gators (5-2). Following a goal in the 42nd minute by Florida midfielder Lindsay Thompson, Duke immediately responded thanks to substitute Chelsea Canepa, who cracked a 25-foot laser past Gator goalie Katie Fraine. The Blue Devils couldn’t sustain that momentum, however, and were outshot 7-3 in the second half, one of the seven being a tap-in goal by Florida’s Brooke Thigpen in the 64th minute.
“The first 35 minutes we were the better team on the field,” head coach Robbie Church said. “We get to the final third, we still are not quite as sharp as we have to be.... Florida is always a tough environment and had a great crowd there. It was a tough loss for us.”
After such a taxing game, Duke wanted to make sure it didn’t overlook the small-conference Alabama A&M (0-7).
“We had a lot of good play in Florida,” said Blue Devil forward Cody Newman. “But we also had a lot of times where we just shut it off, so we wanted to just play for 90 minutes.”
Duke didn’t even have to play that long, as officials called the game with 18 minutes remaining to be merciful to the overmatched visitors.
The Blue Devils ended the game early by scoring eight goals in the first half, a new Duke record for scores in the opening period. Canepa came up big for the second straight game, scoring a hat trick in just 34 minutes of playing time.
“It’s always nice to score goals.” Canepa said. “Whenever you score goals, it’s just because your team is behind you, and they’re supporting you throughout.”
The Blue Devils demoralized the Bulldogs by scoring the first four goals in one three-minute stretch. Lynea Pappas opened the scoring in the eighth minute, and her goal was followed by tallies from Rebecca Allen in the 10th minute, KayAnne Gummersall in the 11th, and Cody Newman also in the 11th.
After attempting 12 shots in the first half, the Blue Devils were content to simply dribble out the clock in the second. Duke registered no shots following intermission, giving up multiple scoring opportunities in favor of simply passing the ball back to the midfield or defense.
The Blue Devils remained undefeated at home, improving to 3-0-1 at Koskinen.
“In the last two or three years we’ve had a really good home record,” Church said.
However, knowing Duke’s opponents only get tougher from here, he added cautiously, “We’ll find out how that record stands.”
The Blue Devils hope the tough road loss against the Gators turns into a moral victory by preparing the team for its next road matchup, Sept. 24 against North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
“[Florida] was a really exciting game,” Canepa said. “We had a really big crowd. It was nice to play in that atmosphere.... Unfortunately we just couldn’t get the result we wanted.”
Church was happy to have a much more relaxing game against Alabama A&M, where the substitutes could play most of the minutes. Of course, they didn’t play as many minutes as they could have when the refs decided enough was enough and sent everyone home early.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.