GREENSBORO - "Welcome back, Ali."
Those were coach John Rennie's words to Ali Curtis as he ran off the field Saturday night after Duke's 3-2 overtime victory over UNC-Greensboro.
Less than a minute earlier, Curtis had quieted the 1,631 rowdy fans at Spartan Soccer Stadium with a thrilling sudden-death goal. In the 15th minute of overtime, Curtis took a pass from Scott Noble in front of the goal mouth, used a nifty move to elude his defender and then rocketed a left-footed shot past Spartan goalie Nathan Kipp. The goal capped off a stunning come-from-behind effort for the Blue Devils (15-2, 4-2).
The first half was dominated by UNC-Greensboro (14-3-2), who took a 2-0 lead into the intermission. The Spartans got on the board first in the 20th minute on Matt Farris' beautiful, curling free kick from just outside the penalty box that sailed just past the outstretched arms of Duke goalie Atli Knuttson.
The senior midfielder scored again 18 minutes later off yet another free kick, this time directly in front of the Blue Devils' goal. The ball barely trickled between Knuttson's fingers and the right goal post.
That was the last shot Knuttson would face all night. Sensing a change was necessary, Rennie brought Jeff Haywood into the game in goal. After the game, Rennie made it clear that the change had little to do with Knuttson's play.
"They scored some great goals in the first half," Rennie said. "We just wanted to give Jeff a chance to play."
Perhaps the change was just what the doctor ordered for Duke. Haywood made two great saves right off the bat, one from point-blank range, as the Blue Devils began to take the game over.
It wasn't until the 70th minute that Duke's offense truly began to turn it on. It was then that the team began to make plays and get shots consistently. From that point on, the ball was noticeably in Duke's offensive zone the majority of the time.
The pressure paid off in the 72nd minute, when Troy Garner pulled the Blue Devils to within a goal. Kipp came out about 12 yards to make a play on a bouncing ball but couldn't find the handle. Garner quickly pounced on it with a header down and away from the nearest defender. The UNC-G players seemed helpless as they watched the ball bounce into the net.
"It was a big goal," Garner said. " All we felt we needed was one goal to start the comeback. It was a hustle play and it paid off for us."
With eight minutes left in regulation time, Peter Gail completed the comeback. As he made a run into the box, the ball deflected off a Spartan defender and flew up toward Gail. He picked it out of the air with a firm header that left Kipp no chance at making a save.
The crowd, which had been in quite a festive mood on the Halloween night, was silenced and the only noise emanating from the stadium came from Duke's bench, as the players celebrated what they knew was a very important goal.
From that point on, it came down to a matter of which team would score first. Curtis answered that question in the first overtime period.
"Our ability to come back from a two-goal deficit showed that we have a lot of heart," Curtis said. "It was a very important win for us.... We felt like it was a must-win situation."
"[The win was] huge, man," added Garner. "They had a very good team, and we kept battling and battling.... We fought and scrapped and gave everything we possibly could. This is the biggest win we've had all year, by far."
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