At half, the Duke women’s soccer team was faced with an end.
For the first time this season, the top-ranked Blue Devils had to walk off the field with the scoreboard not in their favor; it read 2-1 Notre Dame. Duke faced an end to its ability to dominate the field, and its 12-game win streak was in serious jeopardy.
In the 15 minute break, the team had to regroup and adjust to the feeling of being down by one goal. The feeling was met with great unfamiliarity as the team boasts a season record of 12-1 and 7-0 in the ACC. But, with all games in soccer, there is always the second half to rewrite the scoreboard.
The Blue Devils quickly learned that claiming back the score would require more than just speed, as the Fighting Irish wasted no time scoring another goal just minutes into the second half. Now down 3-1, Duke had to start to make decisions with the ball to stop Notre Dame’s lead.
“We came out in the second half knowing we wanted to win this game, but we had to show it,” junior Devin Lynch said.
And Lynch did exactly that at the 52-minute mark, as she shot the ball from outside the penalty area to land inside the center of the net. “We scored the first goal and it was just about great determination,” she said.
The certainty of the Blue Devils’ aim to tie the score was sealed just two minutes after. Lynch and Mia Oliaro showed their confidence by assisting a goal scored by Mia Minestrella. With a pass coming from the right side of the field, Minestrella capitalized on this opportunity by tipping the shot into the left side of the net. Oliaro has reached a high of 10 assists this season and assisted in seven consecutive matches.
For the rest of the half, the two dynamic offenses of each team left Duke and its fans watching the scoreboard as the time ran out and the game ended in a 3-3 draw in Koskinen Stadium.
“I love our mentality, and I love our mindset,” head coach Robbie Church said. “We picked our game up, we started to play a little bit quicker, we started attacking.”
The team’s success in the second half was not only due to its ability to regain determination but also its capacity to keep looking forward. In a game tied 3-3, each team looked to take the lead in the remaining 10 minutes of the game. Goalkeeper Leah Freeman stepped in on the aim of determination by deflecting two back-to-back shots 10 seconds apart from one another. Freeman stepped up for the Blue Devils with five crucial saves in goal.
On the field Thursday evening, Duke ended its game in a tie for the first time in the regular season. Church believes his team must play the full 90 minutes of the game inorder to combat the pressure of a team like No. 7 Notre Dame (10-1-4, 4-0-4).
“Play like we did in the second half, with the mentality and ability to look to go forward,” Church said.
In the first half, Ella Hase notched the first goal of the game 23 minutes in. Assisted by junior Farrah Walters, the ball deflected off the Fighting Irish’s goalie in an attempted save, and found the tip of Hase’s foot, which placed the ball in the left side of the net. Still, the Fighting Irish executed three goals before the Blue Devils broke their scoring streak.
Coming up, the team will face No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 4 North Carolina on the road. To keep their No. 1 rank, the Blue Devils will work on translating their second-half strategy into the full 90 minutes.
Although Duke left Koskinen Stadium without a win, celebratory cheers roared across the field to honor Duke’s Class of 2025 on Senior Day. Baleigh Bruster, Kelly Wilson and Leah Freeman are faced with yet another end; an end to their legacy at Duke. But, in Thursday evening’s game, the Blue Devils learned that while being faced with an end, they can come back from that deficit.
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