In the postseason, with the best teams in the country matched up, the fate of a season often hinges upon missed chances and lucky bounces. After a hard fought 2-0 loss against No. 12 Rutgers in Columbia, S.C., Duke (8-9-4) was sent home in the first round of the NCAA tournament after two straight Elite Eight appearances.
Unable to consistently convert offensively in the final third all season, Duke’s scoring shortcomings proved too much of a hindrance against the opportunistic Scarlet Knights (14-3-4). Although the Blue Devils created chances throughout the game and pressured an outstanding Rutgers back line, Duke visibly lacked a cutting edge.
In the first half, both sides struggled to establish any type of offensive flow. With nerves jangling, each team scrambled for possession and failed to win the battle in midfield. After the first 20 minutes, Duke turned up the pressure and began to attack the Scarlet Knight defense. The Blue Devils had the first real scoring chance of the game when junior Gretchen Miller forced a corner kick. Captain Elisabeth Redmond floated a ball into the penalty area and found the head of senior KayAnne Gummersall, but the striker’s effort was pushed onto the post by Rutgers goalkeeper Erin Guthrie.
In the 27th minute, Duke again missed a golden opportunity to pull ahead. Junior Kendall Bradley found space along the left flank and placed an incisive cross into the path of sophomore Chelsea Canepa. With Guthrie in a bad position, Canepa quickly sent the ball to the far post, but her strike went wide.
In full control of the game, it seemed the Blue Devils’ goal drought would inevitably end. With the Scarlet Knights scattered, senior Jane Alukonis played a perfect through ball to Gummersall, who was one-on-one with Guthrie, but the referee raised his flag, calling Duke offside.
Rutgers kept itself in the game with solid defense, and in the 42nd minute, capitalized on a defensive mistake by the Blue Devils. A Julie Lancos free kick was not cleared from the Duke penalty area, and out of the shuffle, Kelsey Dumont placed a dagger into the lower-right corner of the net.
“If you let a ball bounce in the 18-yard box, nothing but bad things are going to happen,” head coach Robbie Church said. “That was a killer, because we had all of the momentum.”
In the second half, Duke was forced to play without Redmond, its on-field leader who sustained a hip injury in the first 45 minutes. The Blue Devils would continue to press the Scarlet Knights, and in the 60th, looked close to equalizing. Alukonis was unmarked at the top of the penalty area, but her shot was blocked by a swarming Rutgers defense.
Duke’s defenders pushed forward late in the game to aid in attack, but while vulnerable to a counterattack conceded a game-clinching goal to Rutgers. Duke goalkeeper Tara Campbell was unable to save April Price’s shot from 12 yards out, and the Rutgers defense would clamp down to preserve the shutout.
“In an NCAA tournament, you’re only going to have a certain number of chances and you have to put them away,” Gummersall said. “You aren’t going to win if you don’t do that.”
Although Duke came up short in Columbia, Church knows his Blue Devils made tremendous strides throughout the season, and that the valuable experience his five starting freshmen received will pay dividends down the road.
“They’re not freshmen anymore,” Church said. “We’re losing four of the best players that have ever played in our program and we’re going to have to replace them.”
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