Four huge games. That’s how head coach Robbie Church characterized the rest of his team’s schedule this season. With just one win in six ACC contests entering play this weekend, the Blue Devils found themselves in danger of missing the ACC tournament for the first time in the program’s history.
In the first of those “four huge games,” Duke brought itself one win closer to the coveted ACC postseason berth, as it defeated Virginia Tech (8-6-1, 2-3-1) 3-0 in Blacksburg Sunday.
Behind sophomore goalie Tara Campbell’s fifth shutout of the season, the Blue Devils (8-5-3, 2-4-1 in the ACC) snapped the Hokies’ three-game winning streak and entered into a tie for ninth place in the ACC.
Duke’s offense benefited from an early Virginia Tech miscue, as a shot by freshman Laura Weinberg skimmed off a defender’s hand to put the Blue Devils ahead 1-0 in the sixth minute. The goal was credited as an own goal, but Church said he believes the goal was on its way into the net anyway.
“We’ve had trouble scoring what we call ‘energy goals’ that get you believing in things, get you working hard, get you that positive energy. And that’s what we had early,” he said.
Duke clung to its one-goal lead until Callie Simpkins corralled a ball that deflected off a Hokie defender and buried a close-range shot to record her fourth tally of the season and put her team up by two goals.
The score proved to be a relief for a team that has suffered two heartbreaking losses in a row.
“The whole team was very happy to see Callie’s goal go in to give us that 2-0 cushion,” Church said.
Church had emphasized “playing a full 90 minutes” after his team lost its last two games on goals scored by the opponent in the final ten minutes of play. He was encouraged to see leading scorer Mollie Pathman take a pass from fellow freshman Natasha Anasi in the 82nd minute and bury it in the net for the game’s third and final goal.
The victory was a critical one for a team reeling from two tough losses in a row and needing a win to maintain its hopes of finishing in the ACC’s top eight to advance to the conference tournament.
“We were a little bit of a desperate team,” Church said. “It was great to see a lot of smiles today.”
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