After mustering only three goals in its previous four games, Duke’s attack finally exploded against Clemson Sunday.
Now, riding their newfound offensive momentum, the Blue Devils (7-4-3, 1-3-1 in the ACC) travel to Charlottesville, Va. tonight to square off against No. 9 Virginia (8-3-1, 2-2-0) at Klöckner Stadium.
The showdown with Virginia is of particular importance to Duke’s ACC playoff hopes. In order to make the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils must climb at least one spot in the ACC standings. They are currently in 9th.
“We put the standings up on the board in our meeting before practice today [and] drew the line [under] the top eight teams,” head coach Robbie Church said. “We’re below the Mendoza line, as we like to say. We’ve simply got to be able to go above that.”
To reach that desired mark, Duke will work to convert on what recent history says will be a myriad of scoring opportunities. During their winless four-game stretch prior to Sunday’s 4-1 victory over Clemson, the Blue Devils outshot their opponents 64-46. Against Clemson, Duke sent 30 shots at the Tigers’ net.
“The kids have worked hard and the one element of the game that had not been up to par was finishing,” Church said. “The Clemson game was very important for scoring and psychologically for our players.”
The Blue Devils’ need to improve on finishing has been made the focal point for the rest of the season by Church.
“One of the things in finishing is we just hit so many balls right at goalkeepers or kind of up in the air where goalkeepers can get their hands and turn them,” Church said. “Somebody’s going to have to find the corners [of the net]. Somebody’s just going to have to step forward and make a play [and] take that responsibility when they get close to goal.”
Much of this responsibility will be on the feet of freshmen Laura Weinberg, who has five goals this season, and Mollie Pathman, who has three. The capable freshman duo will battle a Cavalier defense which Church describes as “very, very talented” and is 23rd in the NCAA with a .637 goals-against-average.
Beating the challenging Virginia defense will go far toward helping Duke’s less than ideal position in the conference standings. Church, for one, is confident in his team’s ability to make the tournament and do well in the final five games of the conference season.
“We are playing good soccer,” Church said. “The kids are doing the right things, they are working hard and they’re excited and enthusiastic about the games ahead. We’ve got a lot to play for in a very short period of time.”
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