After an up-and-down regular season, the Blue Devils are free from the rigors of their brutal conference schedule and have finally found some consistency in the NCAA Tournament.
Tonight, Duke gets another chance to show how much the team has grown with a match against No. 3-seed Oklahoma State (19-3-2) in the Sweet 16 in Stillwater, Okla.
“We are extremely young, and that’s led to our little inconsistency,” head coach Robbie Church said. “But [the freshmen] are not young anymore; they’ve played a lot of minutes.... That’s what the ACC does for you—the ACC hardens you.”
Nevertheless, the Blue Devils (11-7-4) will have their hands full against a very confident Cowgirl team. Oklahoma State won the regular season and the conference tournament in the Big 12 and is playing in the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
The Cowgirls play a direct attack—very different from what Duke has seen in the ACC—and are led by a formidable front line, featuring senior forward Krista Lopez, who has 14 goals this season. Lopez’s flanking forwards in Oklahoma State’s 4-3-3 formation are also scoring threats. Sophomore Megan Marchesano has scored seven goals this year and senior Katie Richardson has chipped in six.
Duke center back Ashley Rape, who is from Texas and is familiar with many of the players in the Big 12, insisted that the Blue Devils will be ready for the challenge.
“Right now, our defense is at its best,” Rape said. “We’ve kind of learned from every game as we’ve gone on, and it’s great right now because we’re kind of at the top of our game at the right time.... We’ve already played the best forwards in the country. While [Oklahoma State’s] forwards are up there, it’s nothing we haven’t seen.”
The Cowgirls’ physicality extends to their defense, anchored by sophomore goalkeeper Adrianna Franch. Oklahoma State hasn’t conceded more than one goal in regulation in its last eight games.
Duke, however, will welcome back to the lineup freshman forward Mollie Pathman, who has scored eight goals this season but missed the first two games of the Tournament with the flu. Her absence forced the Blue Devils into a 4-4-2 against Florida, and though the team dominated possession against the Gators, Duke was unable to find the back of the net in 110 minutes of play. Pathman’s return will allow the Blue Devils to be flexible with their shape against the Cowgirls.
Fellow freshman forward Laura Weinberg believes that regardless of the formation, the two freshmen have the skill set to counteract Oklahoma State’s back line.
“The fact that they’re pretty physical and big... we can use that to our advantage,” Weinberg said. “We can use our speed to beat them because I don’t think they’re very good 1-vs.-1 defenders.”
The Blue Devils will be facing their second consecutive hostile crowd in the Tournament. But after defeating Florida on its home turf, Duke is convinced that it has the fortitude to advance to the Elite Eight for the third time in four years.
“As the Tournament goes on and you play tougher and tougher teams, you have to know how to come back when you’re down, win a game when you have few opportunities and figure out how to play under that pressure—I think our team is ready to do that,” Rape said. “The do-or-die situation brings out the best in us.”
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