Duke Women's Soccer 2024

Phredd3 said:
Interesting set-up for tonight's game: We are the top seed in the ACC tournament, win, lose, draw. However, Virginia Tech and Wake face bottom-half teams at home, and while FSU is on the road, their opponent is in a three-way tie for second-from-the-bottom with just one ACC win. So, if Duke wins tonight, but all those other playoff-contending teams also win, uNC could be seeded fifth in the ACC. If I have the tournament seedings right, that means they'd have to win twice before possibly seeing us in the final. Also, the game will have national ranking implications, and a win would do a lot to preserve our current hold on the top seed in the NCAA tourney.

It's a big game, to say the least.
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Well FSU and WF won, so uNC is now in 4th place in the ACC. VT is losing 1-0 at the half.
 
UVA has prevailed 1-0
So Virginia Tech is the 5 seed at UNC on Sunday
Winner gets Duke

Notre Dame @ FSU Sunday
Winner gets Wake
 
A glorious night in Chapel Hill. We dominated possession in the first half but UNC was effective with the quick strike counters. Then we lost focus a few times in the second half and paid for it. Felt like we deserved the win but at the same time UNC had plenty of opportunities that they could have seized.

Compared to our first matchup earlier this season we look much improved. On to the postseason!

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TheTrain said:
2-1 Olivia Thomas has been the one bright spot for UNC and she beats Freeman with a shot that worms its way thru her
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That was the first real shot-stopping mistake I've seen from Freeman all season. She was very upset with herself on that one. Overall, a solid win, although with a bit of a shaky second half. Only the second time all season we've given up more than one goal.
 
It happens to the best of them. I hate collapse saves for that very reason ( and I hate the vast majority of keeper coaches that teach it because it is a mistake looking to happen). As a keeper dad, I could go off on this….and I won’t in this thread. 99% of the time she has effectively used a kick save there.

The team needs much needed time off both physically and mentally. ND, @Wake and @UNC in a week is draining. Church said as much in the post game. A lot of players playing thru dings at this time of year. We should get Mary Long back next week for added depth.
 
I blame the defense for that first goal. Off a throw in we tried to play it back and served it right into the hands/feet of UNC's best scoring threat. I haven't watched every game but I get the sense from reading these threads that this type of play has been an issue in past games.
 
Our defense has been arguably the best in the country. An uncharacteristic mistake. We literally chipped the ball from the sideline into the center of our own box right to the feet of Olivia Thomas. A mental mistake for certain. My guess is that the passer did not pick up Thomas standing around in the box. We had two defenders and Freeman in the vicinity of the pass. Fortunately this season unlike last season, those mental mistakes have been few and far between.
 
TheTrain said:
Our defense has been arguably the best in the country. An uncharacteristic mistake. We literally chipped the ball from the sideline into the center of our own box right to the feet of Olivia Thomas. A mental mistake for certain. My guess is that the passer did not pick up Thomas standing around in the box. We had two defenders and Freeman in the vicinity of the pass. Fortunately this season unlike last season, those mental mistakes have been few and far between.
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Pretty much just the first game and last game, right? I'll take one every 18 games or so.
 
Indeed.

I honestly believe that mental fatigue was setting in during the second half last night. As Church said after the game, I don’t think any team in his coaching career had a stretch of games like this.

The bye week will definitely recharge batteries
 
TheTrain said:
U17 USWNT led by Mary Long lost 1-0 to North Korea in the semifinals

Recruit Daya King was unfortunately was involved in the North Korea goal

www.usatoday.com

USA ousted in semifinals of U-17 Women’s World Cup by North Korea

A month after the USWNT lost to North Korea in the U-20 World Cup semis, the U-17s lost to the North Koreans in the semifinals of their World Cup.
www.usatoday.com
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North Korea somehow always has awesome youth women's teams but then never seriously threatens at the actual World Cup -- though they did draw the USA once, scoring twice while the USA had 10 players because Abby Wambach was getting her head stapled.
 
Ronnie Coveleskie (Woodard), whom I think was Duke's first starting goalkeeper when the program started in 1988, has been thanking her mentor Robbie Church quite a bit on social media. She coached at Vanderbilt for 10 years.

I knew her at Duke because she was dating someone at The Chronicle (where I spent most of my waking hours).
 
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