Sometimes the score doesn't always tell the whole story.
In two games this weekend, including a 2-1 victory over Davidson Friday night and a 2-1 overtime loss to N.C. State last night in Raleigh, Duke (8-6, 0-3 in the ACC) outshot its opponents by a combined margin of 43-15, yet only managed three goals.
"We don't have a whole lot of time to figure it out," coach Bill Hempen said. "We have Wake Forest on Friday and UNC on Sunday. That weighs heavily on our kids' minds, but we're going to try to get our first [conference] win Friday night."
The Blue Devils nearly picked up their first conference win yesterday when they dominated the second half and overtime periods, outshooting the Wolfpack (6-5-1, 1-2) 15-6 in the final 47 minutes.
Duke had several scoring opportunities in overtime, but the Duke defense was caught off guard on a counter-attack and N.C. State raced the other way on a fast break. Shannon Blair found herself in the open field against Duke goalkeeper Isis Dallis, who came out to challenge Blair and gave up an open net goal 1:58 into the sudden death extra period.
"We probably had the first two great opportunities to win in overtime," Hempen said. "I told our kids that the only thing that could have beaten us was a counter-attack. It was up to our forwards not to allow the long service and we didn't do that."
Duke did pick up its first home win of the season Friday with its 2-1 victory over Davidson. After beginning their home season 0-4, the Blue Devils finally won at Koskinen Stadium by putting 20 shots on goal to only four by the Wildcats (8-4-1).
"It's always fun to sleep in your own bed and play on your own field," Hempen said. "I think we played some wonderful soccer. That's probably as good as we have played all year. We just really put it together."
Things seemed to fit together from the outset as Duke dominated early and outshot the Wildcats 12-1 in the first half.
Davidson's only scoring opportunity in the first half occurred when forward Tara Maloney raced out into an open field and threatened to go one-on-one against Dallis, but Duke freshman Jenna Turner caught Maloney from behind.
The Blue Devils controlled the rest of the first half but were unable to score until defender Rebecca Smith deflected a corner kick into the upper right corner of the net for her first career goal. Smith, who would add Duke's only goal against the Wolfpack yesterday, gave her teammates a 1-0 advantage.
Early in the second half, Maloney avenged her earlier play against Turner when she beat the freshman on a fast break to even the score.
Duke regained the momentum when forward Sarah Pickens began to penetrate deeper into the Wildcat zone. With 22 minutes remaining she cut across the field and banged home the winning goal.
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