Senior forward Mollie Pathman issued a challenge to all of Duke’s opponents last week—try to shut out the Blue Devils this season. Pathman’s confidence in Duke’s formidable front line is well-placed: senior Laura Weinberg and redshirt senior Kim DeCesare join Pathman and junior Kelly Cobb as talented, experienced playmakers that could turn a perennially stubborn defensive team into a dangerous offensive juggernaut.
Sunday night, however, the offense could not break through, as South Carolina’s defense was up to the task, shutting out the No. 7 Blue Devils 1-0 in Columbia, S.C.
“South Carolina played very well, and I didn’t think we made very good second-half decisions,” head coach Robbie Church said.
Danielle Au netted the game’s only goal, slipping the ball past Blue Devil goalie Meghan Thomas in the 34th minute to give the Gamecocks (2-0) a lead they would never relinquish.
“[The goal] was probably a combination of different mistakes,” Church said. “But [Au] did finish the play really well.”
Duke (1-1) had plenty of opportunities to score, outshooting the Gamecocks 12-5, but South Carolina goalie Sabrina D’Angelo and the Gamecock defense proved to be impenetrable.
Weinberg, Cobb and freshman Rebecca Quinn accounted for half of the team’s shots on goal, as each fired two shots apiece.
“Playing two SEC schools on the road to open the season against competition, I thought we handled the travel really well—it definitely wasn’t easy,” Church said. “At the same time, we maybe could have handled the victory Friday night a little better.”
Church lamented Duke’s slowed speed of attack through the midfield, applauding the effort of his young back line.
“We weren’t dangerous in the final third of the field,” Church said. “We’re still a young team, but our attack isn’t young. The bottom line is we have to score goals.”
Two games into the season, Church is still waiting to see the explosive offensive outburst he knows his team is capable of producing. In Friday night’s 1-0 road victory against No. 12 Texas A&M, the Blue Devils were limited to just a single goal by DeCesare, but it proved to be enough for the win.
DeCesare only registered one shot on goal in 83 minutes of action against South Carolina.
Senior forward Mollie Pathman issued a challenge to all of Duke’s opponents last week—try to shut out the Blue Devils this season. Pathman’s confidence in Duke’s formidable front line is well-placed: senior Laura Weinberg and redshirt senior Kim DeCesare join Pathman and junior Kelly Cobb as talented, experienced playmakers that could turn a perennially stubborn defensive team into a dangerous offensive juggernaut.
Sunday night, however, the offense could not break through, as South Carolina’s defense was up to the task, shutting out the No. 7 Blue Devils 1-0 in Columbia, S.C.
“South Carolina played very well, and I didn’t think we made very good second-half decisions,” head coach Robbie Church said.
Danielle Au netted the game’s only goal, slipping the ball past Blue Devil goalie Meghan Thomas in the 34th minute to give the Gamecocks (2-0) a lead they would never relinquish.
“[The goal] was probably a combination of different mistakes,” Church said. “But [Au] did finish the play really well.”
Duke (1-1) had plenty of opportunities to score, outshooting the Gamecocks 12-5, but South Carolina goalie Sabrina D’Angelo and the Gamecock defense proved to be impenetrable.
Weinberg, Cobb and freshman Rebecca Quinn accounted for half of the team’s shots on goal, as each fired two shots apiece.
“Playing two SEC schools on the road to open the season against competition, I thought we handled the travel really well—it definitely wasn’t easy,” Church said. “At the same time, we maybe could have handled the victory Friday night a little better.”
Church lamented Duke’s slowed speed of attack through the midfield, applauding the effort of his young back line.
“We weren’t dangerous in the final third of the field,” Church said. “We’re still a young team, but our attack isn’t young. The bottom line is we have to score goals.”
Two games into the season, Church is still waiting to see the explosive offensive outburst he knows his team is capable of producing. In Friday night’s 1-0 road victory against No. 12 Texas A&M, the Blue Devils were limited to just a single goal by DeCesare, but it proved to be enough for the win.
DeCesare only registered one shot on goal in 83 minutes of action against South Carolina.
Senior forward Mollie Pathman issued a challenge to all of Duke’s opponents last week—try to shut out the Blue Devils this season. Pathman’s confidence in Duke’s formidable front line is well-placed: senior Laura Weinberg and redshirt senior Kim DeCesare join Pathman and junior Kelly Cobb as talented, experienced playmakers that could turn a perennially stubborn defensive team into a dangerous offensive juggernaut.
Sunday night, however, the offense could not break through, as South Carolina’s defense was up to the task, shutting out the No. 7 Blue Devils 1-0 in Columbia, S.C.
“South Carolina played very well, and I didn’t think we made very good second-half decisions,” head coach Robbie Church said.
Danielle Au netted the game’s only goal, slipping the ball past Blue Devil goalie Meghan Thomas in the 34th minute to give the Gamecocks (2-0) a lead they would never relinquish.
“[The goal] was probably a combination of different mistakes,” Church said. “But [Au] did finish the play really well.”
Duke (1-1) had plenty of opportunities to score, outshooting the Gamecocks 12-5, but South Carolina goalie Sabrina D’Angelo and the Gamecock defense proved to be impenetrable.
Weinberg, Cobb and freshman Rebecca Quinn accounted for half of the team’s shots on goal, as each fired two shots apiece.
“Playing two SEC schools on the road to open the season against competition, I thought we handled the travel really well—it definitely wasn’t easy,” Church said. “At the same time, we maybe could have handled the victory Friday night a little better.”
Church lamented Duke’s slowed speed of attack through the midfield, applauding the effort of his young back line.
“We weren’t dangerous in the final third of the field,” Church said. “We’re still a young team, but our attack isn’t young. The bottom line is we have to score goals.”
Two games into the season, Church is still waiting to see the explosive offensive outburst he knows his team is capable of producing. In Friday night’s 1-0 road victory against No. 12 Texas A&M, the Blue Devils were limited to just a single goal by DeCesare, but it proved to be enough for the win.
DeCesare only registered one shot on goal in 83 minutes of action against South Carolina.
“We probably deserved the same result that we earned [tonight], just as we did on Friday,” Church said. “In the second half South Carolina started to control the ball more, we made too many touches in the midfield, and so they got momentum and started to say ‘We can play with Duke.’”
Thomas, a redshirt junior, made her first career start in goal for Duke, but was replaced by redshirt sophomore Ali Kershner at the start of the second half after Thomas alerted the coaching staff to a bothersome quad injury.
“Meghan was a great teammate [for telling us], she’s worked so hard to get a start for us,” Church said. “She didn’t feel like she could help us in the kicking game, so it was the right thing for us to do.”
Church said Thomas’s injury was more likely to be a day-to-day injury, rather than something more serious. The goaltender position is one of several positions with new faces on the defensive side of the field for the Blue Devils. Stallwart netminder Tara Campbell graduated in the spring, as did three-fourths of Duke’s starting back four.
Church and the Blue Devils will rely heavily on the leadership and guidance of senior defender Natasha Anasi in order to maintain their reputation as a stingy defensive team.
Five freshmen saw playing time for Duke, a trend that is likely to continue as Church seeks to find a suitable rotation to play alongside Anasi in the last line of defense.
The Blue Devils will next take the field this weekend in Chapel Hill as they face off Friday against Kennesaw State and Sunday against New Mexico in the UNC Nike Classic.
Duke will play host for the first time this year at the Duke Nike Classic the following weekend at Koskinen Stadium, welcoming West Virginia, UCLA and North Carolina.
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