TOWSON, Md. - For four straight years, the Blue Devils have found themselves in the NCAA tournament's Final Four. And for the fourth time in four years, Duke failed to make it to the title game.
The Blue Devils fell to No. 2 Pennsylvania Friday 9-8 in overtime at Johnny Unitas Stadium. All four national semifinal losses have been decided by less than two goals.
Duke (13-8) failed to capitalize in the first half of the extra period after it won the draw, and the Quakers (17-1) used the final three minutes of overtime to set up for the best possible shot. As Penn began its charge at the net, Quaker midfielder Giulia Giordano was fouled, giving her a free-position shot for the win. Giordano quickly passed to senior Rachel Mason, whose shot sailed above Blue Devil a free-position shot for the win. Giordano quickly passed to senior Rachel Mason, whose shot sailed above Blue Devil goalie Kim Imbesi's stick and into the net.
"I knew the pass was coming," Imbesi said. "The shot could come two ways-fake and go around me or shoot it. It's a guessing game. She shot right above me."
Although Duke held a 7-4 lead in the second half, the teams traded goals for much of the game. After Penn struck in the first minute, junior attacker Carolyn Davis would answer with two unassisted goals to put the Blue Devils ahead 2-1.
For the first half of the period, both teams played at a heightened pace with their offenses firing off a combined 14 shots in 18 minutes. Soon, though, Duke and Penn each tightened their defenses, as neither team would find the net in the remaining 12 minutes.
Despite the long stretches of scoreless action, Davis was able to exploit the Quakers' defense at will, spinning around her defender and finding the open shot. The junior recorded a game-high five goals on only six attempts.
Penn, however, doubled Davis when it mattered. Late in the second half and during overtime the junior was surrounded by two Quaker defenders any time she held the ball.
With Davis unable to shake the Penn defense in the second half, midfielder Lindsay Gilbride stepped in. After the Blue Devils momentarily lost possession, the sophomore scooped up the ball and was fouled. With only a minute left in regulation and Penn ahead 8-7, Gilbride drilled the free-position shot into the net for her second goal of the game.
"I got right to the eight-meter and I knew that I could do it," Gilbride said. "I looked around and just wanted to put it away. Afterward I was so excited because it was exactly what we needed and I thought we were going to keep going from there."
But the Quakers scored with 42 seconds left in the second overtime to crush those hopes. Last year in the national semifinal, Duke squandered a 13-4 lead to lose 14-13 to Virginia.
Imbesi completed the tournament with another impressive performance with seven saves. Although there were no last-game heroics like the previous two contests, the junior robbed Giordano of two goals in only three seconds midway through the first half.
After making tremendous strides defensively through the postseason, Duke failed to win the draw once again. The discrepancy may have been the most devastating in overtime, with the Quakers controlling two of the three.
Despite the Blue Devils' inability to play for the NCAA championship again, head coach Kerstin Kimel emphasized how impressed she was with her team's maturity and growth.
"To say that I'm proud of my kids this year would be an understatement," Kimel said. "The most important things they can take from the season are intangibles-they learned to fight, to overcome."
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