After a tough road loss to the second-ranked team in the nation, Duke will return to the comfortable grounds of Koskinen Stadium to face an unfamiliar foe.
The Blue Devils will face ACC-newcomer Louisville Saturday at 7 p.m. in a match that will be important in their battle to rise to the top of the conference. Both teams will be aiming for a much-needed win after stumbling in ACC matchups last week.
“We look forward to these types of games,” head coach Robbie Church said. “We’re really looking forward to getting home. We’ve played three straight ACC games. That was pretty vicious. Five of our last seven games were at home so I think that’s going to really help us and really energize us. We play very, very well at home.”
Duke (6-5-0, 2-1-0 in the ACC) suffered its first conference loss last week in a road game against then-No. 2 Virginia Tech that ended 2-0. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Ali Kershner was unable to stop an early penalty kick, leading to the Hokies’ first goal of the game, and the Blue Devils were unable to even the score after the slow start.
“The defense played very well against them,” Church said. “The goal was [a] penalty kick [in] the first 50 seconds in the match. That was something called by the referees that we didn’t agree with. [For] the last goal, we gave up we changed our formations in the back. We’re very young, and we thought we could have won that game last week, and we were really disappointed that we’re not sitting here 3-0 and on top of the conference.”
The Cardinals (4-5-1, 1-1-1) will travel to Durham after their third conference match of the season against Miami ended in a draw. Freshman Alison Price sent the game into overtime, evening the score with a goal in the 86th minute. Louisville ended the game with an 11-8 shot advantage against Miami, but was unable to score the go-ahead goal in either of the overtime sessions.
The Blue Devils and the Cardinals both have one conference road loss early in conference play, meaning that both teams will be ready to battle for 90 minutes when they take the field Saturday.
“They’re a very good team. They’re sort of like we are, right in that bubble, a little above .500, a little higher than we are in the RPI,” Church said. “We have to make sure we watch them. We’re impressed with their backs. They can play with forwards, they’re strong in the midfield. We haven’t played them before in the past with them joining the conference this year.”
Louisville’s scoring is dominated by its freshman class. Forward Isabella Habuda spearheads the attack with three goals scored off 11 shots, followed by Price, who has netted two goals of her own. Despite the success of their freshmen, the Cardinals have been outscored by their opponents thus far this season 18-9.
Inconsistency has plagued the team and was the main factor in its 6-0 loss at then-No. 5 Florida State last Thursday.
For Duke, sophomore forward Toni Payne will be a pivotal player in Saturday night’s match. She will be entering the game leading the team in assists with four, tied with senior Kelly Cobb for the lead in goals and second only to freshman Imani Dorsey in shots and shots-on-goal.
“Toni’s a handful. She can really run at players,” Church said. “She’s become very dangerous in the box. People have to have a game plan for Toni Payne when they play against her. She’s been very consistent all year.”
Because Louisville is new to the conference and unfamiliar, the Blue Devils will have to rely on the Cardinals’ recent performances in order to build a strategy. Duke must capitalize on the strength of its defensive line—led in part by senior defender Anastasia Hunt—and drive an attack on Louisville in order to improve its conference record.
“We’re in a crunch time. These last seven games are really, really important games for us,” Church said.
The Blue Devils have not had an easy schedule recently, facing Pittsburgh, N.C. State and Virginia Tech all on the road. Saturday’s game will be one more obstacle to overcome in their journey to the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
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