Junior Kelly Cobb’s seventh goal of the season started the scoring for the Blue Devils. Her last shot of the day ended the match.
Duke advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament by defeating Colorado College 4-3 on penalty kicks Saturday at Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, Colo. After finishing tied at 1-1 through two overtime periods, Cobb's penalty shot in the fifth and final round was the game-winner.
“I’m just really proud of our team,” Duke head coach Robbie Church said. “It was a great team win. Kind of like we’ve been doing all year, we’ve had to grind everything out.”
After three rounds of penalty kicks, the Blue Devils (8-8-5) found themselves in a 3-2 hole. Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ali Kershner made a diving save on a shot from Colorado College’s Rachel Haren. A floater from Blue Devil forward Laura Weinberg followed, knotting the teams at 3-3 heading into the final round.
Defender Katie Uyenishi, who came into the match with three goals on the season, lined up the final penalty kick for the Tigers (15-4-3). Her shot went left, but was deflected away again by Kershner, giving the Blue Devils an opportunity to advance.
Cobb fired a shot into the top left corner of the net as Tiger goalkeeper Kate Scheele dove to the right, sending the Blue Devils to the NCAA tournament’s second round.
Regular season matches don’t go to penalty kicks, ending in ties instead. As a result, most teams don’t end up practicing penalty kicks until right before postseason play. Church’s Blue Devils employ a different strategy, and it left them better prepared for Saturday’s match.
“We probably start practicing [penalty kicks] earlier than most teams,” Church said. “We start with about two weeks left in the regular season. At first we open it up to the whole team, but then we narrow it down.”
In addition to Weinberg and Cobb, senior Mollie Pathman, junior Katie Trees and freshman Christina Gibbons also attempted penalty kicks for Duke.
The Blue Devil lineup was at less than full strength for most of Saturday’s game, as four Duke players missed significant time due to injury. Making her first return to the pitch since Oct. 6, freshman Rebecca Quinn was knocked to the ground less than a minute after entering the game, and did not return because of concussion-like symptoms. Classmate Lizzy Raben also suffered a blow to the head but was able to re-enter the game.
Pathman and redshirt senior Kim DeCesare also saw their minutes sharply curtailed by injury. In their stead, the Blue Devils moved some players to different positions, and got quality minutes from redshirt freshman Danielle Duhl, who played a career-high 68 minutes.
The Blue Devils grabbed an early 1-0 lead, but were unable to make it stand up. In the 28th minute, Pathman sent a free kick into the box, where it was headed by DeCesare to Cobb, who snuck a shot past Scheele to give Duke a much-coveted 1-0 advantage.
The Tigers answered back just before halftime, scoring a goal off the foot of Kaeli Vandersluis in the 43rd minute, her ninth goal of the season.
Duke created opportunities in the second half, but was unable to break through with a go-ahead goal in regulation.
Still tied after overtime, the Blue Devils sent in Kershner to defend the Tiger penalty kicks, replacing starter Meghan Thomas, who had played the entire game for Duke.
The decision to send in Kershner for penalty kicks was not an in-game gamble. Church and goalkeeper coach Steve Springthorpe said they decided they would make that move if any game came down to penalty kicks a few days before Saturday’s game.
But Kershner’s heroics would not have happened if not for the play of Thomas, who was outstanding in her own right. The redshirt junior posted nine saves on 23 shots in her return to her home state.
“We wouldn’t be playing next weekend if it weren’t for Meghan,” Church said. “Especially in the second half, they had some good shots and wind was a factor, but she really settled in and played great.”
The victory was made even sweeter for the Blue Devils when it was announced that they will host the second and third rounds of the tournament at Koskinen Stadium.
Second-seeded Florida did not make a bid to host the second and third rounds of the tournament, and after third-seeded Central Florida was upset in the first round by St. John’s, Duke was the next school asked to host.
“They’re a great program,” Church said of the Gators. “They lost a lot seniors from last year, but they’re very deserving of their high national rank. We’ve played a lot of top-five teams this year, so we won’t see anything we haven’t seen before.”
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