The Blue Devils’ NCAA Tournament run ended in heartbreaking fashion as they fell 1-0 in overtime against South Carolina Sunday in Columbia, S.C. With just 59 seconds remaining in the first period of extra time, freshman Bradlee Baladez scored a sudden-death goal to send the Gamecocks into the Sweet 16 and put an end to Duke’s season.
In the overtime, South Carolina’s J.P. Rafferty played a ball down the right flank to Stephen Morrissey. Morrissey crossed the ball in the box, finding Baladez, who fired a shot from six yards out past a diving James Belshaw.
“It’s easy to look back,” Belshaw said. “Just some lapses in concentration cost us, but credit to South Carolina, they made hard runs and put the ball in the back of the net.”
This was the second game the Blue Devils were without leading scorer Ryan Finley, who was suspended from the team indefinitely for disciplinary reasons before the Tournament began. Cole Grossman—who usually plays in the midfield—replaced him up top, but the senior captain couldn’t replicate his success against Coastal Carolina in the first round, when he scored two goals.
Despite Finley’s absence, Duke had numerous scoring chances, but was unable to capitalize. In the 14th minute, Chris Tweed-Kent rifled a shot off the post. His brother Daniel Tweed-Kent collected the rebound but was stopped on the goal line by Gamecock keeper Jimmy Maurer. In the closing minutes of regulation, Chris Tweed-Kent crossed a ball in from the right, but Grossman’s header sailed narrowly over the crossbar.
Blake Brettschneider, Conference USA’s player of the year, created most of the Gamecocks’ scoring chances. In the 70th minute, the senior got behind the Blue Devils’ back line and caught Belshaw in no-man’s land, but he couldn’t find the target as his shot missed just wide. In the 79th minute, Belshaw was able to tip Brettschneider’s free kick harmlessly over the bar.
Regulation was marred by the physicality of both teams. The constant stoppage of play caused by the 50 total fouls and eight bookings disrupted the rhythm of both teams.
“They’re a big, strong, physical team,” Grossman said. “I thought we battled really hard. There were a lot of yellow cards, maybe some that weren’t deserved, but a pretty evenly physical game. Both teams played hard.”
The game opened up in overtime. The increased pace of the game led to scoring opportunities for both teams, but both keepers made spectacular saves to keep the game scoreless. In the first minute of overtime, Grossman found himself alone in the box, but Maurer made a diving save to deflect the ball wide right. Then, Baladez got a breakaway in the 95th minute, but Belshaw charged and forced his shot wide. However, it was ultimately Belshaw who cracked first, as Baladez broke the tie with his strike in the 100th minute to send South Carolina to the next round. The loss officially ended the Duke careers of Grossman, Nick Sih, Matthew Thomas, Devon Bostock, Nick Tsipis and Austin McDaniel.
“You’re playing for all the marbles here,” head coach John Kerr said. “It’s playoffs so it’s going to be physical. We’re trying to win the game, and we know that the first goal is crucial, so everyone’s getting after it. I thought both teams did their best, and we wish good luck to South Carolina going forward.... We played a tough game and unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of the result.”
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