With program alumni looking on proudly from the stands, No. 2 Duke won a gritty 3-1 victory at home against Louisville, proving just how tough this Blue Devil team is.
“It’s really the first time in a while we’ve seen a team try to get physical,” head coach Robbie Church said after the game. “They were trying to break the rhythm of us a little bit.”
Throughout Sunday afternoon, Louisville forced an aggressive style of play on Duke, relentlessly pressing the Blue Devils and immediately swarming whichever player ended up with the ball. The teams combined for 18 fouls on the field in Koskinen Stadium, more than triple the number recorded in Duke’s last game against Virginia.
Try as they might, the Cardinals were unable to stop Duke’s offensive rhythm. By halftime, the Blue Devils (9-1, 4-0 in the ACC) already held a 2-0 lead over the Cardinals. It would grow to three not long after the second half started.
With the lead in hand as the home team walked out of the locker room, Duke’s main objective was to keep Louisville (6-5-2, 1-4-0 in the ACC) at bay for the next 45 minutes. Graduate student Maggie Graham got to work making that happen. After a hard foul on sophomore Phoebe Goldthwaite by Louisville's Fina Davy, Duke was awarded a free kick. Junior Devin Lynch, who has scored or assisted in six straight games, stepped up to take it. As she powered the ball between the assembled Louisville defenders, Graham rushed towards it, shooting it high and just past the fingertips of Cardinal goalkeeper Erynn Floyd to round out Duke’s three goals of the day.
Graham’s goal, though, lit a fire under the visiting team, which clearly did not want to return to Kentucky on the receiving end of a shutout. Louisville pushed harder than it had in the first half, eventually getting one past Duke’s usually iron-tight backline. Senior Brooke Dardano used her speed to get past Blue Devil defender Nicky Chico. She sent the ball towards the right side and, despite goalkeeper Leah Freeman making a diving attempt to save it, Dardano’s shot found the back of the net to prevent what would have been Duke’s seventh shutout of the year.
Still, Louisville’s renewed efforts came too little, too late. The Blue Devils quickly regrouped after their opponent scored, keeping their perfect record in Koskinen Stadium alive.
Initially, though, it looked as though Louisville would find success in interrupting Duke’s offensive rhythm. The opening minutes of the contest started quiet for both teams. Neither team took a shot until the 23rd minute of the game, when the usually defense-minded Chico tried out some offense for a change. Chico’s shot missed, but her fellow defender Katie Groff would see one find the back of the net only two minutes later.
Graduate student Hannah Bebar sent the ball booming toward the left side of the field on a corner kick. Her kick reached Lynch, who leaped up to head the ball, sending it back towards Groff — who sped past the sea of white Louisville jerseys surrounding her and sent it straight into the net for Duke’s first goal of the afternoon.
With the scoring seal broken, the Blue Devils kicked into action. After the Mia-to-Mia combo that won a goal against SMU, the Mias repeated their act, not even two minutes after Groff’s goal found home. Just as she had against the Mustangs, sophomore Mia Oliaro powered the ball to her roommate, and fellow sophomore, Mia Minestrella. The latter Mia controlled the ball and headed toward the goal. Floyd stepped out of the net to meet Minestrella and thwart her efforts, but came out a bit too far. Minestrella managed to dodge her, and scored for the fifth time this season.
“Mia’s been a goal scorer, and that’s how we recruited her to come in,” Church said.
Minestrella did not score at all in her freshman season. This year, however, the Redondo Beach, Calif., native is tied for most goals scored on the team.
“It’s a fresh start,” Minestrella said of her success this season. “So many good players surrounding me and finding me in good pockets.”
Minestrella, however, along with many other impactful members of the team, still starts on Duke’s bench.
“One of the reasons we have a nine-game winning streak are the players that have not started. They haven’t sulked. They haven’t pouted,” Church said. “They’ve been all-in, and when they’ve got their opportunity they’ve come in and done a really, really good job.”
The win extends Duke’s winning streak to nine. Now, the team will prepare for a trip to the West Coast. Eight Blue Devils head back to their home state as they prepare to welcome No. 9 Stanford and California to the ACC, facing off against the Cardinal Oct. 10 and the Golden Bears Oct. 13.
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