For the second time in three NCAA tournament games, junior forward Kelly Cobb had a chance to win the game in penalty kicks. For the second time, she delivered.
“When she stepped in, no doubt at all [that she would make it],” head coach Robbie Church said. “You could feel that within our team, there was no doubt.”
Cobb’s clutch shot gave Duke a 5-3 victory in a penalty shootout against Arkansas after its third-round NCAA tournament match ended in a 2-2 draw after 110 minutes of action Sunday at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils now advance to the Elite Eight and will take on No. 1 seed Virginia Tech Friday. The Hokies advanced by defeating Santa Clara in penalty kicks.
The Razorbacks had yet to participate in a penalty shootout in this year's NCAA tournament, but Duke was able to draw on its experience from its first-round victory against Colorado College, which ended 4-3 in penalty kicks.
“I think we were more confident, especially after winning the last one,” Cobb said. “Once I saw Mollie [Pathman] go up there for the first one, I knew she was going to put it away.”
The Blue Devils were perfect on the offensive end of the penalty kick shootout, converting on all five attempts. This took the pressure off goalkeeper Ali Kershner—who was inserted by Church off the bench for the purpose of penalty kicks for the second straight week.
“Those girls are so good at taking penalty kicks,” Kershner said. “It’s so huge when you can make them, and then my job becomes that much easier. I’m thankful that we have some good kickers on our team.”
Kershner came through in a big way, smothering Jesse Givens’ shot in the third round to give Duke a 3-2 advantage. The lone save proved to be all that was necessary, with Cobb’s clincher giving the Blue Devils a 5-3 victory in the shootout.
The offensive efficiency that Duke displayed in penalty kicks was a sharp contrast from their play in regulation and overtime. The Blue Devils kept the ball in the Razorbacks' defensive third for most of the game and racked up 26 shots, but still came away with only two goals in 110 minutes of play.
“I think everyone was feeling a little frustrated,” Cobb said. “We had over 20 shots and unfortunately none of them went in—saves were made, they hit off the crossbar or went wide.”
For most of the game, Arkansas was content with packing its defenders inside its own 18-yard box and allowing Duke to run down the wings. The Blue Devils were able to send many crosses into the middle, but most of them were intercepted by awaiting Razorback defenders.
“We looked like we looked earlier in the year—like we did in September,” Church noted. “We got a lot of shots and a lot of services. We looked dangerous, but we weren’t really dangerous. It was a little frustrating.”
After threatening for most of the first half, Duke finally came through and broke the scoreless draw with 8:25 left in the first half. Freshman Christina Gibbons was able to get around her defender and dribbled from the right wing into the six-yard box. She slid a pass across to forward Kim DeCesare, who tapped it in to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.
"All I had to do was really tap it in,” DeCesare said. “Gibbons beat two or three players—she did all the work and put it right in front of me. It would have been bad if I didn’t put it in.”
The Razorbacks first got on the scoreboard in the 68th minute. Defender Allie Tripp took a corner from the left side and floated it into the box, where sophomore forward Ashleigh Ellenwood—the team’s leading scorer—headed the ball into the net for her 14th goal of the season.
The game wouldn’t stay tied for long. Duke answered with another goal in the 74th minute to regain the lead. Senior Mollie Pathman lobbed a cross to DeCesare, who elevated and headed the ball in for her second goal of the afternoon.
The Razorbacks refused to roll over. Exactly two minutes later, freshman defender Alexandra Fischer tied the game once again. A pass from Ellenwood got past the Duke defense, giving Fischer the angle from the left side that she needed to slide the ball past Thomas and tie the game at 2-2.
Each team had one excellent scoring chance in the overtime periods. In the opening minute of the first overtime, Arkansas had the winning goal negated by an offside call from the officials. Duke’s opportunity came at the end of the first 10-minute period, when Cobb fired a shot from outside the 18-yard box that glanced off the crossbar and out of play.
As Duke looks ahead to a road matchup with top-seed Virginia Tech, Church said his team will look to its seniors to guide the Blue Devils as they play for another trip to the NCAA Final Four.
“They have a special drive, and they’re definitely the ones that are leading us here,” Church said. “For the other players, they don’t want to lose for the seniors. They want to win for themselves, but they also want to win for the seniors because of how much they have meant to this program.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.