In the Final Four last year, the Blue Devils pulled off one of their signature wins, shocking reigning national champions Florida State with a resounding 2-0 win against the top-seeded Seminoles.
When the teams meet Thursday, Florida State will be the team motivated to pull of an upset.
No. 4 Duke will look to take another major step toward a regular season ACC championship by knocking off the No. 9 Seminoles at the Seminole Soccer Complex Thursday at 7 p.m. in Tallahassee, Fla. The Blue Devils are the only unbeaten team remaining in conference play, but will have to go through a team that has won three straight ACC regular season titles and made five straight Final Fours to extend their winning streak to six.
Led by senior co-captain Christina Gibbons, Duke took down then-No. 5 Virginia at home Saturday and is hoping to hold its own in another potential Final Four preview with three games left in the regular season.
“They want to win a championship, so I feel like the team is starting to really own that,” Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church said. “We’ve done a lot of work since August first, and we’re within a week left in the regular season, so the kids are very highly motivated.”
In Saturday’s defensive battle against the Cavaliers, Duke (11-2-2, 6-0-1 in the ACC) came out on top 1-0 on a Gibbons penalty kick in the 64th minute. With the Blue Devils navigating ACC play without three starters, the Raleigh native has elevated her level of play.
An All-ACC performer, Gibbons has started games on the midfield line to jumpstart Duke’s offense in addition to moving back to help the Blue Devils shut down some of the nation’s top offenses. Duke has allowed one goal in its last six games, and Gibbons’ versatility and leadership is a big part of that. Following the Virginia game, Gibbons was named ACC Player of the Week, and she leads the Blue Devils’ dynamic offense with seven assists on the season to go along with four goals.
“She’s very, very important moving forward. She is the heart and soul of our team. I think in the UVA game she played four different positions,” Church said. “She can be a shut-down defender, attack, can beat you off the dribble, she’s a great soccer player, and it was fitting that she was ACC Player of the Week this week.”
Gibbons’ goal was her second game-winning goal of the year, and Duke will need another big game from her and the red-hot trio of Imani Dorsey, Ella Stevens and Toni Payne to break through a Florida State defense that is second in the nation in goals against average. Cassie Miller anchors the Seminoles (10-2-2, 4-1-2) in net and has only allowed five goals this season.
But Florida State’s offense will also have to stand out to beat Blue Devil junior goalkeeper E.J. Proctor, who has raised her game in ACC contests to spark Duke’s winning streak. The Blue Devils have outscored opponents 13-1 in their last six games, and shut out a Virginia offense that averaged 2.6 tallies per contest.
“The defense is really, really playing well right now,” Church said. “The nonconference season wasn’t bad, but we’ve really gotten it to a whole new level, and when we’re talking about defense, we’re talking about all our players.”
Sophomore Megan Connolly and freshman Kristen McFarland lead the Seminole offense having combined for nine goals and six assists on the season, and hope to get Florida State’s offense back on track. The Seminoles were ranked No. 2 for most of the year before falling at Boston College 2-1 and tying Syracuse 1-1 in their first two October games.
After recovering with a 1-0 road win at N.C. State to cap off a four-game road trip, Florida State returns home looking to continue its dominant play at home. The Seminoles are 64-1-3 at home dating back to 2011 and are currently riding a 30-game unbeaten streak in Tallahassee.
“Florida State is a great program, they’re not a great team, they’re a great program,” Church said. “It will be a huge challenge for us to go down there and play, and we’re looking forward to it.”
After their test against the Seminoles, Duke will travel to take on the worst team in the ACC—Pittsburgh (2-12-1, 1-6). The Panthers have been outscored 34-7 this year, and the Blue Devils will look to earn three more points for the ACC league standings before their regular season finale against No. 17 Clemson next week.
“It’s pretty easy [to stay focused] because we’re playing for championships, and there’s not a lot of championships out there. There’s ACC regular season, ACC tournament and the NCAA championship, so we would like to collect a lot of hardware,” Church said. “Last year’s team obviously was highly decorated with the run through the NCAA tournament, but this year’s team gives you the chance to win the first championship out there.”
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