Women's Soccer Falls, 2-0, to No. 12 Rutgers in NCAAs

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Women's Soccer Falls, 2-0, to No. 12 Rutgers in NCAAs

11/13/2009 8:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

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COLUMBIA, S.C.-- On a beautiful Friday afternoon in Columbia, S.C., the Duke women's soccer team saw its 2009 season come to an end, falling to the 12th-ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 2-0, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Both teams showed their nerves early, with neither team able to keep possession of the ball for more than five passes in the first half.

The Scarlet Knights took the first shot of the match, but the first real opportunity presented itself to the Blue Devils, as a Rutgers defender headed a long Gretchen Miller free kick over the endline for a corner. Off the ensuing cross from senior Elisabeth Redmond, fellow senior forward KayAnne Gummersall found the service and headed it on target, where Scarlet Knights goalie Erin Guthrie pushed the ball into the post before collecting it.

Five minutes later, a Rutgers turnover inside its half led to another Duke opportunity as midfielder Cody Newman found Redmond running into the box, but the ball was taken away by a closing defender.

The Scarlet Knights had their first corner of the game 12 minutes into the half, but nothing significant came of the opportunity.

The Blue Devils began to settle down and move the ball around, switching fields quickly and effectively through efficient one-touch passing. One such sequence led to Newman open on the left and she had a nifty crossing pass to an onrushing Redmond, whose shot attempt was straight at the goalie.

With approximately 18 minutes to play in the first half, Duke began to impose its will on Rutgers as the Blue Devils controlled possession and had numerous chances. Substitute Chelsea Canepa had a golden opportunity on a cross from Kendall Bradley, as the ball travelled across the box right into her path. Her shot across goal was just wide of the left post.

Following a Duke corner and subsequent stifling of the Scarlet Knights' counterattack, it appeared that senior Jane Alukonis played a perfect ball to a charging Gummersall and a one-v-one with the keeper -- the flag had gone up, however.

A long Rutgers free kick from defender Julia Lancos inside the Scarlet Knights half was not cleared by the Blue Devils defense and Rheanne Sleiman found the ball and directed it to Kelsey Dumont, who calmly slotted it into the lower right corner for her third goal of the season.

At the end of the first half, Duke held a 6-4 shot advantage.

The Scarlet Knights came out of halftime searching for a second goal, immediately getting a corner off of the restart. Six minutes later, Stefanee Pace hit a rocket from 22 yards out that Blue Devil goalkeeper Tara Campbell made a diving save to keep out of the back of the net.

Forward Rebecca Allen had Duke's first chance of the second half, corralling a long entry ball from Marybeth Kreger, turning and shooting with her left foot. The Scarlet Knights goalie easily made the save though.

With 15 minutes gone in the second half, the Blue Devils had an excellent opportunity as Alukonis teed up a shot from the top of the 18 yard box that was blocked out by a defender for a corner. At the same time, Duke substituted out freshman Libby Jandl and put in an extra attacker. This also allowed Rutgers to open up the field and attack more effectively than they had previously.

The Scarlet Knights bench was assessed a yellow card at the 64 minute mark. As the game wore on the Blue Devils pushed more and more players forward in an attempt to find an equalizer.

Due to this, Rutgers got another goal with 15 minutes to go in the match as April Price slotted in a shot from 12 yards out after receiving a long service from Karia Schacher to go up 2-0.

Duke continued to push forward in the waning minutes of the match. Alukonis, Bradley, and Carey Goodman all had shots that were smothered by the Rutgers defense and goalie. The Scarlet Knights' bend-but-do-not-break approach was enough to keep the Blue Devils' offense off the scoreboard.

For the match, the Blue Devils held a 15-9 shot advantage. In goal for Duke, Campbell finished with two saves to give her 94 for the season, which is a new single-season Blue Devil record.

Redmond, a senior from Morristown, N.J., did not play the entire second half with a hip injury.

Duke lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997, breaking a seven-game winning streak in the NCAA Tournament first round. Three Blue Devils played their final match in a Duke uniform on Friday as Redmond, Gummersall and Alukonis will all graduate in May.

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Duke Postgame Quotes:

Coach Robbie Church

Opening Statement

"First of all, congratulations to Rutgers. I wish them well as they move forward here in the tournament. I'm very proud of our team. It's been a difficult year for us in a lot of ways. After we got past the initial jitters of the first 10-15 minutes, I thought that we played very well. I think the game was won and lost in the first half, in the sense that we completely controlled the game and we had a lot of opportunities, we just couldn't capitalize on those opportunities. We really were playing some very good soccer in that 20-25 minute stretch. We had them back on their heels. This is a funny game, you've got to be able to finish up and that's something that's hurt us all year. We haven't been able to punish teams when we've done such good stuff. Unfortunately we gave up a fairly soft goal. It wasn't from a lack of effort from our team, each and every player has been very committed all year long and we're just proud of what they've done. We ran out of gas a little bit in the second half. Our four seniors that are our captains have had terrific careers at Duke University and have done nothing but represent the university and program with class and dignity. We wish them the best and it will be exciting for me to see how they progress in life."

On the experience the younger players gained:

"Because of all the injuries we had earlier in the year, we've started five freshmen. It's difficult in our conference and in any conference. They're not freshmen anymore, they gained some valuable experience. We're losing four of the best players that have ever played in our program and we're going to have to replace them. I should have mentioned in my opening statement that we lost Elisabeth Redmond at the end of the first half to injury. She wasn't able to return and that's a very difficult blow to us, but the girls did a great job not hanging their heads, not feeling sorry for themselves. I think that the ones who stepped in did a good job of stepping up. We'll build on this; we'll get back to work after Christmas. I'm excited about the future of the program."

On the first goal:

"We knew that she [Julia Lancos] had good range on her services, and we talked about having to head balls. If you let a ball bounce in the 18 yard box, nothing but bad things are going to happen. Unfortunately, it bounced and fell right to one of their players who scored. That was a killer goal because we had all the momentum at that point and it was against the run of play. As we talked about, it happens, it wasn't from a lack of preparation from our kids or a lack of effort or heart. We made a bad decision and we didn't do a good job of clearing it and it ended up in the back of our goal."

Senior KayAnne Gummersall

On the initial opportunities in the first half:

"Obviously we had a lot of chances and unfortunately we were unable to finish them. That happens in this game. Congratulations to Rutgers for doing just that [finishing their opportunities]. I thought that we played tough; we played better in the first half than the second half. But we couldn't put away one of our chances and in an NCAA Tournament you're only going to have a certain number of chances and you have to put them away when you get them. You aren't going to win if you don't do that."

On what Rutgers was doing that prevented Duke from scoring:

"I don't think it was what Rutgers was doing, but what we weren't doing. In this game you need a little luck and I don't think that was really on our side today. The bounces weren't going our way and we just couldn't finish."

Senior Jane Alukonis

On the end to the season:

"Of course we're very disappointed. The past two years we've done very well in the tournament. We feel that we're a tournament team, we love tournament time, we felt that our preparation and everything we did coming into this was great. It's a hard pill to swallow knowing that it's over. We would have loved to go a lot further. This program and the players coming in have a very bright future ahead; there are a lot of great players coming in. Especially the experience the younger players got this year, they have a ton to look forward to and it's going to be exciting to see how they do in upcoming years."