Practice makes perfect, but even the most prepared teams need a few lucky breaks in order to succeed. Duke was unable to capitalize on a few golden opportunities on the attack, and its inexperienced defense was eventually exploited in a 2-0 loss to No. 1 seed Florida State (15-3-1) in the first round of the ACC tournament.
The No. 8 Blue Devils (8-8-4) now must wait to find out if they will be selected to play in the NCAA tournament. Duke has been eliminated in the first round of the ACC tournament for three consecutive years, but has made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament the past two seasons.
Duke did well to keep the Seminoles off the scoreboard in the first half, as Florida State continually attacked a passive Blue Devil squad. With five freshmen competing in the postseason for the first time, Duke’s inexperience showed. The Seminoles forced four saves from goalkeeper Tara Campbell and outshot Duke 10-3 in the first period.
Duke would gain momentum late in the first half, sustaining possession by involving the fullbacks in the attack. The Blue Devils missed their best chance of the half in the 39th minute, when senior captain Elisabeth Redmond carried the ball deep down into the right side of the Florida State penalty area. Redmond slid the ball across the face of the goal to an outstretched KayAnne Gummersall, but the striker could not direct the ball into the open net.
“We created some good opportunities and unfortunately just didn’t finish them,” head coach Robbie Church said.
The Blue Devils continued to pressure the Florida State defense, and had a goal called off in the waning seconds of the first half. Carey Goodman cracked a spectacular volley over Seminole goalkeeper Erin McNulty, but the referees, after conferencing, decided the ball did not cross the plane of the goal before time expired.
In the second half, Duke played evenly with Florida State, trading shots with the Seminoles. Campbell was stellar in goal, saving point-blank shots from the Florida State forwards.
Redmond found space again in the 55th minute down the left flank, dribbling past a scattered Seminole defense. With the goalkeeper approaching, Redmond fired a ball to the far post with her left foot, but it narrowly missed.
Duke would rue its missed chances as the second half progressed and Florida State ratcheted up the pressure, exhibiting its league-leading offense.
Seminole standout Tiffany McCarty converted on a defensive lapse in the 70th minute, dribbling through a hole in the Blue Devil back line and past a charging Campbell. McCarty coolly finished inside the box, and the Blue Devils were unable to recover.
Duke gifted the Seminoles a second goal in the 82nd minute when junior Gretchen Miller, defending a corner kick, headed the ball into the Blue Devil net.
“We played hard, we just didn’t get the end result,” Gummersall said.
Although Duke was unable to make a run in the ACC tournament, strong midseason results against quality opposition may still be enough to propel the Blue Devils into the NCAA tournament. In a conference boasting six ranked teams, Duke still tallied four victories, and held two top-10 teams to draws.
“We could have used a quality win on our resume,” Church said. “We’ve got some quality results in the toughest conference in the country. We deserve to be in. We’re a tournament-caliber team.”
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