Duke women's soccer earns rain-delayed draw in top-25 tussle at N.C. State

RALEIGH—About 15 minutes before Thursday night's kickoff, clouds gathered over Dail Soccer Field with thunder and lightning in the distance. 

For the next two hours, Duke would sit in its locker room, unsure whether their game would even go on as rain dumped down on North Carolina's capital city.

Eventually, the 15th-ranked Blue Devils would play, going the distance in a 1-1 draw against No. 21 N.C. State to close out a stretch of four games in 11 days to begin ACC play, with three coming away from home. Duke got the night's opener on a screamer from senior Kayla McCoy, but the hosts would equalize in short order, as the Wolfpack needed just three shots in 110 minutes to eke out a point against their Triangle foes.

"We have to realize that's a sense of danger," Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church said when asked about his team's inability to see out the victory. "There are nine minutes left in a game to take three points home and we've got to stop and realize we have to do what we can—throw our body at the shot, block anything that we can.

"On the other side, we score two or three and they score one, then it's fine."

McCoy began the second half on the bench, sitting for nearly 15 minutes until she replaced classmate Taylor Racioppi up top. Once McCoy got on, the attacker threatened relentlessly, putting pressure on the Wolfpack defense and nearly getting behind the N.C. State back line for the opening score in the 63rd minute.

Instead, Wolfpack defender Ella Bonner made a sliding tackle to stop the threat, but the referee immediately went to his back pocket for a red card, putting the hosts down a player for the final 47-plus minutes.

But McCoy and the Blue Devil offense would not go quietly. 15 minutes after the red card, junior Ella Stevens forced a turnover in the Wolfpack box, taking the ball out of traffic and steering it to McCoy. 

Just 30 seconds after coming onto the pitch, Tziarra King fought past Blue Devil defender Karlie Paschall and fired a rocket to the far post, beating Brooke Heinsohn to knot things at one apiece with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation.

Duke had its chances down the stretch, though. A Paschall corner within the final 90 seconds of regulation found McCoy's head, but just went wide of the far post for what would've been a game-winner.

The Blue Devils got off six shots in the 20 minutes of overtime, including one from McCoy that Wolfpack goalkeeper Sydney Wootten was just able to save with an outstretched hand and another from senior Kat McDonald that just flew over the crossbar from long distance.

"We're continuously upwardly progressing," McCoy said. "We put together a better game today than we have in the past, a more consistent game. [But] we weren't good enough in the back and we weren't good enough in the final third, definitely."

Duke controlled the game for much of the opening 45 minutes, dominating possession and keeping the ball mostly within its final third. 

The Blue Devils nearly cashed in early with a 30th-minute shot from Tess Boade crossed the face of goal and just missed the back post. Less than a minute later, an Ella Stevens shot from the top of the 18-yard box was deflected wide left by an N.C State defender.

Instead, Duke settled for its first draw in more than a month, giving it seven points in league play. 

The Blue Devils are squarely in the middle of the pack as they now have a week off before beginning a stretch of four of five games at home, starting next Thursday night vs. Wake Forest.

"This is a new team," Church said. "Some of the sophomores and even some of the seniors haven't played this many minutes. We're going to take a bit of a rest."

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