To extend their streak of three straight round of 16 appearances, the unranked Blue Devils will have to take down Conference USA champion and 24th-ranked Colorado College Saturday at 3 p.m. at Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Tigers haven’t lost a home game yet this year.
“We’ve got our hands full. This is a tough draw,” Duke head coach Robbie Church said. “They’re good, but we’ve got a couple things we can do. I think playing in the ACC can help us at this time of year. “
Duke (8-8-4) finished the year at .500 in the ACC, sitting seventh in the conference but falling to eventual ACC tournament champion Florida State in the first round of the conference tournament. With four ACC teams—the Seminoles, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech—earning No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, the Blue Devils had plenty of exposure to top-level soccer.
Coming off two weeks rest, Duke must turn its attention to Colorado College (15-4-2), a team that the Blue Devils only played once in their history, a Sept. 21, 1991 loss for Duke at the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill.
“We’re really excited to go out there,” Church said. “We’ve been playing ACC teams and banging heads with them for the last six to eight weeks so it’s nice for a change of pace.”
Although they do not hail from the ACC, the Tigers are no stranger to the postseason. Colorado College played host to the first women’s soccer championship in 1980, appeared in eight consecutive NCAA tournaments from 1984 through 1991 and made it to two championship games.
Now with head coach Geoff Bennett at the helm for his ninth season, the Tigers have begun to return to their past glory, earning their second consecutive tournament bid and their third under Bennett.
“They’re not as athletic as a lot of the teams in the conference, no question about it. Not many teams are,” Church said. “But they’re a really good soccer playing team. They’re really, really well coached. Geoff and his staff do a great job out there.”
To get acquainted with his Conference USA foe, Church, in addition to viewing film, reached out to a Duke connection with a Colorado tie—Bill Hempen, the first women’s soccer coach in Duke history and the current head coach at Colorado State. From film, Hempen and other contacts, Church has been able to get a sense of his opponent.
“They change the point of attack really well,” he said. “They play a really attractive style of soccer…. They’ve got danger in all four lines.”
One feature of the Colorado College squad that stands out is its formation: a 3-5-2. The Blue Devils have not played against the formation since last season when they fell to Penn State in the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Church sees the three-back formation as something his forwards could take advantage of. Duke brings six active players who have scored in the tournament, and seniors Kailyn Kerr and Kim DeCesare rank first and second in postseason scoring in program history with a combined 15 tallies.
“I think the key for us to will be our wide players against their three backs… how we perform out wide and the decisions we make [there],” Church said
With just three players on the back line, the Tigers put more stock on controlling the ball in the midfield, a potential soft spot for the Blue Devils. Since the beginning of the season, Duke has played without its top two assist leaders from last year, sophomore Cassie Pecht and senior Gilda Doria. And since early September, the Blue Devils have also been without freshman midfielder Rebecca Quinn, who started her first four games.
Saturday, Quinn might make her return to the pitch, Church said, and could be available off the bench.
“She’s really good on the ball,” Church said. “She’s a really good passer from midfield, and that’s one of the things that we really need.”
A healthy Quinn could give the Blue Devils an added boost for one final College Cup run for the senior class that helped Duke make it to the final weekend in 2011.
“We’re honored and privileged to be playing for a national championship, so this is the first game of it,” Church said. “All we’re trying to do is survive and play next weekend.”
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