Stuck in a 1-1 draw at the end of the first overtime period Sunday, the Blue Devils stood in a huddle with their arms around each other.
The clock ticked away the last seconds of the break, and the Blue Devils picked their heads up to cheer a single word--win.
No. 17 Duke had just 10 more minutes to accomplish its goal, but the team ended its second game of this weekend's Duke/adidas Classic in a hard-fought 1-1 tie with Marquette at Koskinen Stadium.
"I thought at times we played hard, and we really dominated both overtimes," head coach Robbie Church said. "We had a number of opportunities to score goals in different parts of the game, and we just didn't finish them. We need to be a little bit more composed.... We've got to be able to put things in the goal."
Following a 1-0 loss to Florida Friday, the Blue Devils (4-3-1) came out hungry Sunday against the Golden Eagles (2-3-3), scoring five minutes into the match. Sophomore Christie McDonald headed a corner kick from senior Lauren Tippets past the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner of the net.
"I was left pretty open as my defender went in front of me," McDonald said. "I just headed it to the far post."
But the goal-Duke's only score on the weekend-was not enough to deliver a win. Five minutes into the second half, Marquette's Lauren Weber sent a 23-yard shot past goalkeeper Allison Lipsher's outstretched hand into the top left corner of the net.
In a back-and-forth battle for the rest of the game, neither team could capitalize on its opportunities. The Blue Devils took eight shots in the extra periods--matching their shot total from regulation--but were unable to find the net.
"We just talked with our coaches about how we need to be our best when we are in the 18," Tippets said. "That hasn't exactly been the case this season. So I think that is going to be our goal going into ACC games. We need to relax, be more composed in the box and finish."
Duke suffered from similar troubles against Florida Friday. The Gators topped the Blue Devils with an unassisted goal when Ameera Abdullah won a 50-50 ball against Lipsher and squeaked the ball past a Duke defender into the net just three minutes into the game.
"I really think we came out slow and built ourselves a pretty big hole to climb out of, and we couldn't get out of it," senior Rebecca Moros said. "I think our finishing is really good, it just wasn't there for us tonight."
Church said his team came into the second half with a more aggressive mindset than it showed in the first. But even though the Blue Devils were able to create several scoring chances-Duke took 11 shots in the second period-they could not put the ball in the net.
"Sometimes when you're playing a good team, a half is not enough," Church said.
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