WASHINGTON STATE
by Matt Sullivan
This season was supposed to be good for the women's soccer team, but by no means was it expected to be easy.
On the road for the second weekend in a row at the Wake Forest adidas Women's Soccer Classic in Winston-Salem, No. 6 Duke survived a heart-stopper and ended up with a heart-breaker against a pair of frustrating Pac-10 teams that drained even more energy from the exhausted Blue Devils.
Casey McCluskey's game-winning goal with nine seconds left against Oregon State (3-1-1) gave Duke a shot in the arm, but the adrenaline wore off Sunday, when Washington State (2-4) choked the Blue Devils (4-1-1) into their first loss of the season, a 1-0 shutout and a deflating-but-early blemish.
"This isn't going to make or break the season by any means," sophomore Carmen Bognanno said. "It may even be good for us. It shows we're not invincible. We can get beat, but we can also win. We can win big games."
Duke won a huge match two weeks ago over then-No. 4 Texas, but the wear and tear of the season and a bulked-up early schedule showed yesterday with the Blue Devils mustering just eight shots in being blanked for the first time this year.
The first half was the beginning of the stalemate--Cougar head coach Mark Potter called the game "a bit of a chess match"--with Duke and Washington State combining for just five shots. Even though the Blue Devils came out with intensity after Friday's win, they blew two corner kick opportunities and couldn't slip behind the Cougar defense for much of the rest of the game.
And in the 74th minute, Washington State senior Rachel Rodrick found a seam and knocked in the game-winner past Duke's Kate Straka, Rodrick's third goal in as many contests.
McCluskey, who had five shots against Oregon State to go with her goal, was shut down Sunday, as the Blue Devils managed just eight shots--half as many as Friday's total. Even Carolyn Ford and Kate Seibert, who had hooked up for a goal in the second straight game Friday and were named to the all-tournament team along with Bognanno, were not much of a force, blind-sided by an unfamiliar West Coast opponent like the rest of their teammates.
"We didn't generate any offense or make good decisions today," head coach Robbie Church said. "Hopefully, we will learn from this and get better."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
Duke needs to learn quickly, as current-No. 4 UCLA makes for an even more brutal cross-coast match-up next Sunday. The Bruins come to Durham to comprise perhaps Duke's biggest soccer lineup of the year: No. 1 North Carolina will take on UCLA Friday before Duke plays Richmond, with women playing the Bruins Sunday. And for that, the Blue Devils don't have to be invincible, but they can't be invisible either.
CLEMSON
by Josh Silverstein
Having found themselves on the losing end of two consecutive 2-1 games, the Blue Devils wanted nothing more than to get back to their winning ways against Clemson yesterday. Instead, they ran into more of the same frustration against the Tigers, who dealt Duke (2-3, 0-1 in the ACC) its third straight 2-1 loss in its ACC opener.
No. 19 Clemson (3-2-1, 1-0) wasted little time getting on the board, as senior Andre Borges fired the ball past Blue Devil goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge from six yards deep just 2:49 into the game. Borges was able to recover his own rebound off a Duke defender and mark the score.
Borges' goal left the Blue Devils playing catch-up for the remainder of the game, which they did with a fair amount of success. Duke outshot the Tigers 18-11 for the game and an impressive 12-5 in the second half alone. The Blue Devils finally were able to show for their efforts when junior Nigi Adogwa knotted the score at one apiece in the 73rd minute of the game. By that point, Duke had already expended an exorbitant amount of energy trying to come back.
Clemson was able to take advantage of the Blue Devils' fatigue just five minutes after Duke tied it, when Clemson's Kenny Cutler took a centering pass from John Cooper and put it in the net from just outside the 18-yard box. The Tigers fended off a worn down Duke team for the final 11 minutes of the game and were able to take a victory from the Blue Devils.
"We spent so much energy catching up that by the time we tied up the game, we were completely out of energy," Duke head coach John Rennie said. "It was a disappointing way to begin the ACC season because I really felt like we outplayed [Clemson]."
As was the case in their previous two losses to William & Mary and UC-Santa Barbara, the Blue Devils waged a dogfight against their opposition.
Unfortunately for Duke, its competitive and gutty performances have not resulted in victories. Rennie emphasized the need for his team to get on the board first in these games, as that was not the case against Clemson.
"After Clemson went up 1-0 early in the game we had to spend the next 70 minutes chasing them," Rennie said. "We were just drained after we tied it up."
On the opponents' sideline, Clemson head coach Trevor Adair expressed his satisfaction and relief at defeating the resilient Blue Devils.
"I am really happy with the win," Adair said. "We have so many people hurt and we were trying to get through the week. We really needed this victory. Kenny Cutler stepped up and played well.
Duke put the pressure on us in the second half. We showed character and the effort is there. Again I am happy we found a way to win."
Duke will look to end its three game skid this Wednesday in Buies Creek, N.C., when it faces off against Campbell College. The Blue Devils return to Durham Sunday to face ACC rival Maryland, who goes into this week at No. 1 in the nation.