Women’s soccer's postseason hopes dim vs. Duke

DURHAM, N.C. – Only a few minutes before the final whistle blew yesterday on yet another devastating defeat, Skyy Anderson reared back to clear the ball out of her Terrapins women's soccer team's end.

Instead, the ball smacked off the side of her foot and flew into the stands at Koskinen Stadium.

In many ways, it was the perfect summary of how the matchup went for the No. 15 Terps against the No. 6 Blue Devils. The Terps blew a 1-0 lead for the third time this year, and their postseason future remains uncertain as ever after a 3-1 loss to Duke.

Entering Thursday's final regular-season game against No. 8 North Carolina at Ludwig Field, the Terps will be in eighth place in the ACC, one point ahead of Miami for the final spot in the ACC Tournament.

"I think we're all pretty disappointed right now," coach Brian Pensky said. "We've got to collect ourselves and take a day and then start thinking about Carolina because that's going to be a similar kind of challenge. … It's going to be a tough game."

The Terps (9-4-4, 3-4-2 ACC) got off to yet another fast start on a sixth-minute goal by midfielder Lydia Hastings after a free kick by midfielder Olivia Wagner, who initially drilled her kick right off a wall of Duke (15-2-1, 7-1-1) defenders. But the ball deflected into a scrum in front of the net, and Hastings was able to get a shot off from the right side and have the ball deflect off Duke goalkeeper Emily Nahas and into the back of the net.

Nahas initially started in place of Tara Campbell, one of the ACC's top goalkeepers this year, for Duke's Senior Day.

"It's just taking chances, never giving up on a play," Hastings said. "We just pressed, pressed, pressed and finally something opened up and we scored."

The Terps kept the lead into halftime, but Duke came out strong in the second half, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes of play and adding a third in the 65th minute to seal the Terps' fate.

"I really don't think Duke had a rhythm at all," Hastings said. "Second half, we fell asleep at times and let them back into it. They just kept coming at us."

Miscommunication off a restart in the 50th minute allowed Duke forward Kelly Cobb to get isolated on defender Remi Kriz and beat her and then goalkeeper Yewande Balogun for the tying score.

Less than five minutes later, the Blue Devils struck again. Slick passing between defender Alex Straton and forward Mollie Pathman led to a cross that defender Kim DeCesare headed past Balogun.

"They got some momentum and energy and the crowd behind it," Pensky said. "I don't think we responded well. We just let the whole situation get to us and we couldn't grab it back."

Duke sealed the game when Cobb took a lead pass behind the Terps' backline and crossed it to Pathman, who put the ball past Balogun.

Concerns over his team's ball possession have bothered Pensky throughout the year, and Duke exploited that weakness in the second half yesterday, owning a 12-0 margin in shots in the final 45 minutes.

"You can either kill a game off by sitting and defending, or you can kill a game off by keeping the ball," Pensky said. "Unfortunately, our ability to keep the ball over a period of time is not great right now."

Their shortcomings yesterday only amplify the significance of Thursday's game against the Tar Heels, a perennial title contender. The Terps' recent struggles make the task even more daunting, as the team is still winless against top-10 teams this season.

"When we have tough moments, how are we going to go as a team?" Pensky said. "Are we going to go quiet and feel sorry for ourselves and separate a little bit? Or are we going to come together and fight? We felt a little bit sorry for ourselves, and we can't do that if we want to win games against top-10 teams."

dgallen@umdbk.com