The No. 14 Blue Devils rebounded from a disappointing ACC opener with a stellar performance away from home, snatching a 1-1 draw against undefeated Maryland Sunday in College Park. Duke survived an overtime barrage from the No. 8 Terrapins and earned a critical point in the conference standings.
“It was disappointing we didn’t get three points. That was our goal,” head coach Robbie Church said. “I don’t think I could be prouder of this team, though, coming back [from the loss to Wake Forest].”
Looking to avenge a dismal loss to Maryland last season, when the Terrapins blanked the Blue Devils 4-0 at Koskinen Stadium, Duke (6-2-3, 0-1-1 in the ACC) came out determined and controlled the run of play early on. Senior Marybeth Kreger’s shot forced a Yewande Balogun save—one of her seven on the day—just two minutes from the start, and the Blue Devils kept the pressure on, earning consecutive corner kicks but failing to convert.
“Since playing Florida at home, we haven’t been as aggressive,” Church said. “We haven’t really put our stamp on the game, but [against Maryland] we really did.”
Despite its chances, Duke could not break the Terrapin defense and lost momentum as the first half progressed. Maryland (8-0-1, 0-0-1) came close in the 11th minute, when junior striker Jasmyne Spencer hit the post. Blue Devil substitute Gretchen Miller put a shot on goal with under a minute remaining, but the score would remain deadlocked through the first 45 minutes.
The two teams traded chances to start the second period, but redshirt freshman Callie Simpkins would finally open the scoring in the 62nd minute. Balogun failed to deal with a Molly Lester cross, and Simpkins beat the Terrapin defenders to the ball to finish from close range for her third goal of the year.
“It was a typical Callie goal. Molly Lester served a really nice bending ball,” Church said. “Callie went and found it and knocked it into the back of the net.”
With just three days to recover from playing Wake Forest, a fatigued Duke defense struggled to contain the dangerous Maryland attack as the game continued, and the Terrapins took full advantage of their fresh legs. With just under 15 minutes to play, striker Ashley Grove beat Blue Devil goalkeeper Tara Campbell in a footrace to an uncleared ball and put Maryland on level terms. Campbell came off her line to collect the ball and collided with Grove, but the ball squeaked away, and the striker easily found the open net.
Neither team threatened to end regulation, but it was the Terrapins who came closest in the two overtime periods. With Duke content to play for a draw, Maryland outshot the Blue Devils 9-1 in the final 20 minutes and even hit the crossbar off of a Lydia Hastings strike, but Campbell rescued the point for Duke with three saves in overtime.
With two ACC games in the books, the Blue Devils will now have a week of rest and preparation before traveling to Tallahassee to face No. 13 Florida State Sunday. For Church, the break couldn’t come at a better time for his team.
“We’re right in the middle of the pack, and we’ve got to work ourselves out of it,” Church said. “We’ve got to go get some wins.”
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