LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As the clock ran down to zero in Duke's third championship game loss in three years, the Blue Devils realized that this was the one that got away.
In the previous two title games, both against Wake Forest, Duke was dominated by a stronger team. This year's 1-0 loss to Maryland was different.
After a quick Terrapin goal 8:34 into the first half, the Blue Devils turned up the intensity and spent most of the remainder of the game in Maryland's half of the field, constantly pressuring the Terps but failing to score.
"Quite honestly, I felt like this is the first time we've been in the final game and we probably deserved to win," head coach Beth Bozman said. "Not to slight Maryland at all-they scored, they won-but we played quite dominating, especially in the second half."
Duke was constantly on attack the entire second period, but was not able to breach the circle as Maryland sat back in its zone and played tight defense.
The Terps never sustained an attack in the half, only momentarily sending the ball downfield to stop the Blue Devils' assault.
"I think we did have our chance to have a few good shots off," senior Katie Grant said. "We just didn't really capitalize. I don't know-. I felt like we broke them a lot."
Despite its dominating play, Duke had trouble getting good shots on goal throughout the game. The Blue Devils failed to register a solid shot in the team's four penalty corners after the break.
For each corner, Duke would send the ball to the top of the circle and either misplay the pass or fail to take a strong shot before the Terrapins rushed out from the cage. On one occasion the Blue Devils did not even send the ball back into the circle and lost possession immediately.
In the final minute, as the team desperately tried to knot the match at one, Duke had multiple scoring opportunities but Maryland cleared the ball each time, taking precious time off the clock and crushing the Blue Devils' final hopes.
Maryland did not even create its own good scoring opportunity for the game's only goal, but instead got a favorable bounce off a Duke player's stick and took advantage. Even Jackie Ciconte, who scored the lone goal of the game, admitted her score was not one based on skill.
"[I] prayed and hit it in," Ciconte said. "I got lucky."
In the end, all that matters is that the Terps made the most of their only opportunity, and the Blue Devils did not capitalize on any of their numerous chances. Control of a game only matters if a team wins, and the Blue Devils did not.
"What does that mean-to control the game? You have the ball more? The bottom line is the goal," Maryland head coach Missy Meharg said. "If you get the ball a couple times and go down and score a goal and then you keep it out, it might not be the prettiest [way to win] but the reality of the game is that."
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