The Blue Devils had their chances. Seventeen shots, six of which were on goal, and a penalty kick to boot.
And although the Seminoles’ opportunities were few and far between, the hosts cashed in when it mattered most.
With a looping header from point-blank range, Kaycie Tillman tallied her first goal of the season in the 98th minute and lifted No. 9 Florida State to a 1-0 overtime victory against No. 4 Duke Thursday evening at the Seminole Soccer Complex in Tallahassee, Fla. The Blue Devil offense put pressure on Florida State throughout the game, earning a pair of late opportunities to potentially escape with a win.
But as was the case when Duke upset the Seminoles 2-0 in last year’s Final Four, the team that dominated possession Thursday was unable to earn the victory. Florida State’s upset wasn’t quite as meaningful as the Blue Devils’ 2015 postseason win, but it handed Duke its first conference loss and opened the ACC regular season title race back up entering the last week of the year.
“We dominated the game after the first 20 minutes,” Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church said. “[The Seminoles] came out of the gate and were really good—and we knew they would be…. They had a lot of emotion and played really well.”
In the 85th minute, Duke senior Christina Gibbons stepped up for a pressure-packed penalty kick after freshman Mia Gyau was taken down inside the penalty box. Although the All-American’s initial shot was saved by Seminole goalkeeper Cassie Miller, Gibbons got a rebound opportunity, only to send it sailing over a wide-open net.
It was one of the few times this year the Blue Devils’ star co-captain has failed to capitalize on her chances, but Duke had another opportunity to tally a game-winner just minutes later.
With only 45 seconds remaining in regulation, Blue Devil freshman Olivia Erlbeck fired a shot toward the goal’s top left corner, only to have Miller knock it away with her fingertips with what Church called “probably the best save [he’s] ever seen in 35 years” and send the game to overtime.
“[Miller] is as good as anybody in the country,” Church said. “Their whole team is good, but the goalkeeper is there to clean up and do whatever she needs to do.”
Florida State (11-2-2, 5-1-2 in the ACC) took advantage of Miller’s heroics barely seven minutes into the extra session after a crucial turnover gave the Seminoles possession. Florida State sent the ball out wide to midfielder Olivia Bergau, who found Natalia Kuikka with a long pass toward the back post. Kuikka then headed the ball to Tillman on the edge of the six-yard box, and the game’s hero did the rest, beating Duke goalkeeper EJ Proctor to end the contest.
Although the game ended frantically, for much of the first half, it was a defensive struggle.
The Blue Devils (12-3-2, 6-1-1) failed to get a shot on target until the 23rd minute, but then ripped off nine of the game’s next 10 shots. Gibbons led Duke with four attempts—playing all 97 minutes along with forward Toni Payne, who added three shots of her own.
“We got away from all those opportunities we had in the second half,” Church said. “You give Florida State a lot of credit—they were outplayed all over the field, but they hung in there.”
Throughout the latter 45 minutes of regulation, it seemed inevitable that the Blue Devils were going to cash in. With a trio of second-half goals in their last three wins, Duke and its high-powered offense forced Miller to make five saves and frequently found itself deep within Seminole territory.
But for the third time this season, the Blue Devils remained tied and goalless after 90 minutes—and like both prior occasions, they were unable to pull out a victory.
“We lost our patience a little bit,” Church said. “We tried to have players win the game with one ball. It got knocked back down and then they connected passes and kept the ball…. They executed [the game-winning goal] well.”
With the win, Florida State closed to within two points of the first-place Blue Devils in the ACC standings as the regular season winds down. Thursday night’s top-10 matchup was a critical RPI battle for both sides as Duke and the Seminoles both are looking to earn top seeds in next month’s NCAA tournament.
Although Church dropped his 11th contest in 19 chances against Florida State and the loss snapped the Blue Devils’ eight-match unbeaten streak—the second-longest in program history—Duke’s head coach is looking forward to his team’s second road game of the weekend.
The Blue Devils will take on Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon looking to bounce back in their final road game of the regular season.
“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting ready for Pittsburgh,” Church said. “We have a lot of disappointed people, but we’ve got people that will learn from this. We’re still first place in the league and we plan to win the next two games and the regular season.”
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."