Gyau's Goal Carries No. 7 Duke Past NC State, 1-0

Friday, April 2

Raleigh, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

10-5-2, 7-4-2

NC State

4-2-1, 0-0-0

Duke

NC State

Photo by: David Tracey/Technician

Gyau's Goal Carries No. 7 Duke Past NC State, 1-0

4/2/2021 11:33:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. – Redshirt-senior Mia Gyau broke a scoreless tie in the second half with her first goal of the season to lead the No. 7 Duke women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over NC State at Dail Soccer Field on Friday Night.

The Blue Devils (10-5-2) kept the Wolfpack offense in check throughout the entire match, limiting NC State to two shot attempts and no shots on goal. Duke collected its eighth shutout win of the season in the effort and rebounded from its first loss of the spring last week at West Virginia.

"It just shows the character of our young ladies to come out here and earn a win," said head coach Robbie Church. "NC State is good. Tim [Santoro] has obviously done a great job with his program over the years and they're a good team. For us to go on the road again, to win over here against a big rival, it speaks volumes. I thought we played really well. We really controlled the ball where last week, we gave the ball away way too much. We all knew it and we worked on it. I give a lot of credit to the players and the coaches."

The first half featured numerous changes of possession as neither side was able to sustain consistent offensive pressure. Freshman Grace Watkins subbed in for Duke at the 27-minute mark and found an opportunity at the top of the 18-yard box one minute later, but her shot was corralled by NC State goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta and the two teams went into halftime knotted at 0-0.

Duke gained control in the early stages of the second half, keeping the ball in the final third of the pitch and sending two shots towards goal in the first 10 minutes.

The Blue Devils broke through at the 60:50 mark, as senior defender Caitlin Cosme sent a long cross to the left side of the field for Gyau. Gyau tried to work the ball into the box, but was met by a cluster of NC State defenders and saw the ball roll towards the end line. The redshirt-senior from Colesville, Md., did not quit on the play, however, and blocked Echezarreta's clearing attempt, leaving a wide open cage for her to net her first goal of the season and give Duke a 1-0 advantage.

It marked Gyau's third career goal in her 55th game at Duke, and her first tally since September 26, 2019.

"I noticed that Caitlin received the ball a little bit wider than normal," said Gyau. "There weren't really any options forward except for if I were to make the run forward. Caitlin always plays a nice long ball. She played it long and I got the ball right at the top of the 18. It trickled into the box, the goalkeeper came out and kicked it straight into my chest. I didn't think the ball was going to land right there, but it landed right on my chest and went into my pathway, and I just passed it into the goal, nice and easy."

Gyau logged a full 90 minutes of action and was a key part of the defensive effort that shut down a talented NC State attack.

Duke controlled the final 30 minutes of play, peppering the Wolfpack back line with 10 shots during the second half. Junior Marykate McGuire was brought on in the 75th minute and provided an instant offensive spark, first setting up a Sophie Jones scoring chance and then hitting the right post on a shot from just inside the box moments later.

The Blue Devil defense remained strong, not yielding any opportunities for a late equalizer. Sophomore goalkeeper Ruthie Jones improved to 9-5-2 on the season with the victory.

"I think we really needed that momentum and that boost of confidence," said Gyau. "We didn't come out and play the way that we know we could play against West Virginia. To come out and get this win, and to have a lot of chances and really control the game like we did tonight against a really good team, it was a boost for us. I think it reaffirmed to everybody on the bench and on the field that we are a really good team and a resilient team."

Echezarreta made three saves in goal for NC State (4-2-1). After allowing two early goals in a 3-2 loss in Morgantown, W.Va., last week, Duke responded by posting its ninth clean sheet and eighth shutout win in 2020-21.

"It was a different week, in a sense," said Church. "It was hard to kind of shake that loss. But you could see in warmups that we were determined tonight. We were really focused. I thought we connected really well and we moved the ball."

Duke concludes the regular season on Sunday, April 11 when it welcomes No. 18 Vanderbilt to Koskinen Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

NOTES

Head coach Robbie Church is in his 20th season at Duke and 35th year as a head coach. His record is now 254-131-57 with the Blue Devils and 437-245-71 overall.
With Mia Gyau's tally in the 60th minute, Duke has now had 11 different goal scorers this season, accumulating a total of 29 goals on the year.
Duke moves to 24-10-3 all-time against NC State and 13-4-1 when playing the Wolfpack in Raleigh.
Freshman Maggie Graham made her first start since Oct. 29 and played 83 minutes. She has started six out of 17 matches this season.
The Blue Devils' eight shutout wins rank second in the ACC this season.