The women's soccer team has the chance to finish off a huge turnaround when it matches up Saturday versus Vanderbilt, the former team of current Duke coach Robbie Church, at 7 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Soccer Field.
After starting the ACC season with an 0-5 record, despite forcing numerous matches versus top-ranked teams into overtime, Duke was faced with the possibility of not advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.
But the Blue Devils have answered the challenge so far. They began last week with a crucial win over N.C. State, and then, in the team's biggest win of the season, Duke up-ended No. 19 Wake Forest 2-0 on Senior Night at Koskinen Stadium.
"It was an incredible feeling of everything coming together," senior midfielder Kasey Truman said of the win over the Demon Deacons, the first ACC win at home all season for the Blue Devils. "It was the perfect night for all of [the seniors], especially for me to be able to score on a pass from [fellow senior] Sarah [Pickens]."
Duke also got help from a sophomore who has been playing like a wily veteran since the day she put on the Duke uniform. After her superb efforts in stopping 11 shots in the two games last week, Thora Helgadottir earned co-ACC player of the week honors for the first time this season. Helgadottir, who had to fight off fatigue early in the season from her trips back to Iceland to play for her national team, also earned high praises from her coach.
"There are definitely great goalkeepers
Helgadottir will have to come up big again if Duke plans to get an NCAA tournament bid, starting with Vanderbilt (7-8) Saturday. The Commodores are fresh off a 3-1 win over SEC foe Alabama, giving Vandy a berth into the SEC tournament for the ninth time.
The game should be an emotional one for both teams, because each come in needing one victory to reach the .500 mark. The links between the two teams make the game even more interesting, starting with Church, who left his post at Vanderbilt in July to take on the more renowned program at Duke. Church brought along assistant coach Billy Lesesne to Duke as well. As Church's successor, Vanderbilt then selected Ronnie Hill, who has previous ties to both Church and Duke. Hill, who played on Duke's inaugural women's soccer team in 1989 as the starting goalkeeper, was an assistant for Church for three years when the duo headed the Charlotte women's soccer program.
"It's going to be a very emotional game for us, especially for myself and Billy here," Church said. "It's really tough. I don't want to do this at all. Ronnie is one of my best friends. We talk almost daily. It's going to be so difficult to coach because there are so many ties here.
"She's done a great job. She's very competitive, but so am I. Once the ball rolls over, we'll both be competing. But as soon as the game is over, we'll be friends again."
On top of all that, Vanderbilt will be holding its senior night as well, which will be especially touching for Church, who brought up the two Commodore seniors, Lindaliz Arauz and Jessie Wolfe, through the middle two years of their college careers. Church, who left the team over the summer and thus did not get to actually see all his players one last time, described the game as nothing short of "extremely difficult."
"This will be the first time I see some of them face-to-face," Church said. "I have been watching some of them on tape this week, and it's strange to see them on tape. I am sure it's going to be very strange coaching against them."
The Duke players are all aware of the vast ties to the Vanderbilt team, but they know how important this last game can be. Duke, which has locked up the seventh seed for the upcoming ACC tournament, will be matched up against either Wake Forest, Virginia, Clemson, or FSU, the latter three of which all needed overtime to beat Duke earlier this season. The Blue Devils realize the emotion that the Commodores will come out with, and they plan on matching that intensity if nothing else, for their coach.
"As a team, we want to win with him as a coach," Truman said. "We want to prove to them that we have a better program, and that's why [Church] is here."
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