DURHAM, N.C. - They needed overtime to do it, but the No. 13 Virginia women's soccer team (11-2, 3-1 ACC) dispatched ACC cellar-dweller Duke, 2-1, on Saturday night to take its seventh consecutive win.
Virginia freshman Lindsay Gusick broke the 1-1 stalemate in the 99th minute of the game when she took a pass from sophomore Erin Englehardt and booted the ball past Duke goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir. The play earned Gusick her team-leading 10th goal of the season and Engelhardt her team-high fifth assist. Gusick has scored in eight of the Cavaliers' last nine games.
"It was a great game," Virginia senior defender Ashley Meeker said. "I felt like their defense pushed up so much that we were playing a lot in our own half but we worked hard and I think it came out to who fought harder for it."
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Virginia started the scoring in regulation when junior midfielder Meredith Rhodes notched her first goal of the season with just six seconds remaining in the first half. The Cavaliers flirted with a second goal early in the second half but were unable to finish off a few golden offensive opportunities.
In the 70th minute, Duke tied the match when Duke midfielder Kasey Truman celebrated her 22nd birthday with a goal. Truman's goal was the first goal scored on Virginia keeper Jodi Clugston in her five starts this season and marked the end of her 400-minute shutout run.
The score remained tied at the end of regulation despite some close calls, most notably a Duke offensive drive in the 84th minute that resulted in a shot bouncing off Virginia's left goalpost.
The Cavaliers took four shots on net during the golden goal period. Gusick was foiled once by Helgadottir before she knocked in the game-winner.
"We knew this would be a difficult game," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "Any ACC game, I don't care what their record is at home, on the road, is going to be difficult. I thought we created a lot of good chances, which is something we maybe haven't been doing lately. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the second half when we had chances to go up 2-0, 3-0. You can't let a team like Duke hang around. It was a good soccer game, though."
"It was a great advertisement for college soccer," Swanson continued.
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