Two weekends prior, Duke women’s soccer pulled off the unthinkable at home. Snatching a last-minute tie against then-No. 1 North Carolina, the Blue Devil faithful had every hope that their team could execute another upset against the top team in the country. However, when Florida State came to town, it was over before it started.
It was all doom and gloom for Duke as it was dominated by the first-ranked Seminoles in a 4-0 defeat Sunday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. Senior Onyi Echegini led the way for Florida State with two goals, while midfielders Taylor Huff and Kaitlyn Zipay added the other tallies. For the Blue Devils, senior keeper Leah Freeman had a season-high seven saves. With the loss, Duke moves to 6-6-3 on the season with only two conference wins.
“There [were] a lot of really good opportunities … [and] we went toe-to-toe with them for a long time,” said head coach Robbie Church after the game. “But they finished everything.”
Despite some opening chances for the Blue Devils, it took just under 30 minutes for the Seminoles to open the scoring and break down the Duke defense. After a solid performance at the back to start the contest, freshman Cameron Roller took an uncharacteristically big touch out of her feet. The bad news? Florida State freshman Jordynn Dudley was in the vicinity.
She stripped Roller of the ball and took off down the left side of the field, easily dodging another Blue Devil defender as she rocketed into the box. At the last second, Dudley dumped the ball across the face of the goal, where Zipay was wide open. The unmarked midfielder easily hit the ball past Freeman to put her team up 1-0. However, Duke (6-6-3, 2-4-3 in the ACC) still went into the halftime locker room with a glimmer of hope in its eyes.
“I think in the first half, we were just making opportunities and putting them on their heels,” said senior captain Katie Groff.
The Seminoles (13-0-1, 8-0-1), for their part, were quick to take the wind out of the Blue Devils’ sails. Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Huff got the ball at the top of the box and sent a beautiful outside-of-the-foot pass to the right side of the field, where forward Beata Olsson was making her run. The senior put up a lofting cross toward the back post and found the head of Echegini. The London native perfectly redirected the ball to the upper left corner of the net, out of the reach of a diving Freeman to earn the brace.
Despite the 2-0 lead, the Seminoles were determined to put the game away emphatically. Just five minutes later, Duke gave the ball away in the midfield again and Florida State was quick to pounce. Huff was the impetus for the play once more, playing a through pass to Echegini. The Blue Devil defense gave her just enough space at the top of the 18-yard box to sneak a low ball just inside the right post. With that, it was 3-0 Seminoles, and Duke was down for the count.
“We gave them a little bit too much space in the second half,” Church said. “And they just finished. They showed their class when they stepped up.”
“It’s hard once the momentum shifts like that to get it back your way,” Groff added.
The third and final second-half blow came in quick succession as well in the 66th minute. Huff, who had been the puppetmaster for the previous two goals, finally got her moment in the limelight. After a pass in from teammate Sophie Nguyen, the junior cut through several Blue Devil defenders on a path to the middle of the 18 as the Duke back line once more gave Florida State room to operate. Finding her opening, the midfielder rolled a shot inside the right post, giving her team the 4-0 lead and ensuring Florida State’s dominant win.
“We lose 4-0 … that’s not good enough,” Church said. “We expect to win games and we expect to win trophies and championships.”
The Blue Devils, however, do not have time to dwell on the past. They go on the road again Thursday for a season finale against Louisville for a must-win matchup. While the team cannot qualify for the ACC Tournament at this point, a bid to the NCAAs is still on the line. Simply put, the fate of their postseason hangs in the balance.
“It comes down to one game, we go to Louisville, we win that game, we’re above .500,” Church said. “I think we have an excellent opportunity to get in the NCAA tournament, and nobody, nobody wants to see us come down in the tournament.”
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Mackenzie Sheehy is a Trinity sophomore and Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.