Duke extended its scoreless streak—now at 376 minutes—by another 90 minutes in Thursday night's loss at Clemson.
The Blue Devils headed south for a road contest in Clemson, S.C. against the Lady Tigers Thursday night and will be coming home without a win for the third straight game. Duke fell to No. 24 Clemson 1-0, marking the longest winless streak of the season for the Blue Devils.
The game featured a one hour and 45 minute rain delay at halftime, a period which the Blue Devils failed to take advantage of, according to head coach Robbie Church.
“Overall, we played pretty well in spurts,” Church said. “It was a pretty physical game. It was a really tight game in the first half…. Halftime we had an hour and half lightning delay and that was where we didn’t adjust as well as we could have or should have, maybe. We panicked down a goal, and we tried to get too direct.”
The Blue Devils (6-6-1, 2-2-1 in the ACC) were not able to find the back of the net for the third straight game. Clemson (9-2-2, 2-2-1) outshot Duke in the contest 14-9, only the third time all season that the Blue Devils have been outshot by an opponent.
Only sophomore Christina Gibbons was able to register multiple shots on the night and just three Blue Devils—redshirt senior Gilda Doria, sophomore Toni Payne and freshman Imani Dorsey—were able to put a shot on net.
“Even though we played hard, you have to execute when you play hard, and we didn’t execute that well,” Church said. “We never strung a good final pass. Late in the game we settled down and got the ball down to our wide players, and we became dangerous at that point, but we were just a little bit too inconsistent.”
The lone Clemson goal was rattled home in the 24th minute, as sophomore forward Catrina Atanda found herself with the ball at the top of the box. Atanda made a quick move to her left and fired a shot that deflected off the leg of center back Kara Wilson. Duke goalkeeper Ali Kershner could only watch helplessly as the ball sailed into the lower left corner of the net.
Aside from the deflection, the Blue Devil back line held firm much like it has all season. Kershner recorded two saves throughout her 65 minutes of play. Freshman EJ Proctor was brought in to replace Kershner with 25 minutes remaining so that the Blue Devils could utilize her strong leg as they pushed numbers forward. Although she was brought in as more of an offensive substitute, Proctor made three saves during her time on the pitch.
Despite giving up the goal, Duke only allowed four shots from Clemson in the first half. The Lady Tigers were able to add 10 more shots in the second half but five of those shots came against Proctor when the Blue Devils had substituted defenders for forwards and were pushing up the field in an attempt to draw even.
“They did play well. They team defended really well today,” Church said. “It was an unlucky opportunity [the goal]. It was a preventable goal… it bounced off Kara Wilson who has done a wonderful job playing back in a new position this season. I was happy overall with our defensive pressure.”
After this rough stretch, the Blue Devils will return to the comfort of their home field at Koskinen Stadium, though they only get a short breather before the pressure begins to mount.
Duke has just five games remaining on its regular season schedule and begins a four-game home stand Sunday against Wake Forest. But despite the fact the Demon Deacons have not had a stellar 2014 thus far, three of the four opponents the Blue Devils face after Sunday’s match are ranked top 10 in the nation. Duke will need to its offense break out of its slump soon or it could face serious questions about its NCAA tournament eligibility.
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