GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the sixth time out of the last nine years, head coach Robbie Church and the Duke women's soccer team have advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals as third-seeded and 19th-ranked Duke upset second-seeded and fifth-ranked Florida, 2-1, at Donald R. Dizney Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
The Blue Devils (13-5-4) move on to next play at No. 1 seed Stanford Friday, Nov. 27 at 10 p.m. (PT) in Stanford, Calif. Florida concluded its season with a 19-4-1 mark.
Duke controlled most of the first 20 minutes of play and held a 3-1 shot advantage early, but the Blue Devils missed some great opportunities on dangerous runs. Ashton Miller, Kayla McCoy and Taylor Racioppi all attempted shots, but two went wide and one saved.
Florida got on the board first as the Gators connected on a header goal off a corner kick at the 20:03 mark to take a 1-0 advantage. Sarah Troccoli sent home a three-yard header from Lauren Smith.
Duke didn't hang its heads though as the Blue Devils evened the score in the 29th minute as sophomore Casey Martinez sent a corner kick in over a group of players. Racioppi passed the ball back to a charging junior Christina Gibbons and the All-America candidate placed a ball to the head of junior Rebecca Quinn.
Quinn, who hails from Toronto, Canada, back-headed a ball that bounced towards the right post and found its way into the back of the net to tie the score, 1-1.
Duke dominated the shot tally in the first half as the Blue Devils held an 8-2 advantage.
The second half was very intense early as both teams were looking to get the go-ahead goal. The Blue Devils attempted the first two shots of the half, but they were saved by Gator keeper Kaylan Marchese and went wide off the legs of Martinez and Racioppi. Florida responded with two blocked shots less than two minutes later.
The Blue Devils were able to go ahead 2-1 at the 54:12 mark. Junior Toni Payne tried to send a cross through the box that got batted to Martinez. A native of Towson, Md., Martinez sent a great cross in from the right side that bounced off the chest of McCoy and to Racioppi. A product of Ocean Township, N.J., Racioppi one-timed it into the left corner of the net for her seventh tally of the season.
In the 57th minute, the Blue Devils nearly went ahead 3-1 as McCoy placed a great header on goal, but Marckese made a diving stop.
Florida leading scorer Savannah Jordan was held in check by the Duke back line the entire match and didn't have a shot until the 64th minute.
Duke fought off a strong rally by Florida, but in the end held on to a 2-1 victory. The Blue Devils finished with an impressive 8-2 shot advantage and limited the high-scoring Gators to only one shot on goal.
Blue Devil sophomore goalkeeper EJ Proctor totaled one save on the afternoon over 90 minutes of action.
Duke's advances past Florida in the NCAA Tournament for the third straight time as the Blue Devils marched on with a 4-2 penalty kick victory in 2010 and a 1-0 win in 2013. This will be the eighth NCAA quarterfinal appearance for the Blue Devils – 1992, 1994, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015.
The game-winning goal for Racioppi was her fourth of the season, which ranks tied second on the Duke freshman record books and tied ninth overall.
Notes:
· Taylor Racioppi moved into sixth place on Duke all-time shots list with 80.
· In the Duke freshman record books, Racioppi is now tied 12th with seven goals along with rookie Kayla McCoy. Racioppi is also tied sixth in assists (6), second in shots (80) and tied second in game-winning goals.
#GoDuke
What the Blue Devils Said:
Opening statement:
"Wow. First of all, congratulations to the University of Florida. They have an outstanding, outstanding, outstanding team as you all saw today. We seem to be in this position a lot, playing them. Becky [Burleigh] and her staff just do a fantastic job. That was down to the last second. It could have gone both ways. I'm just very, very proud of our team to come and win on Florida's home field.
“It's been a journey all year, and it hasn't been easy times, especially early trying to decide on different lineups and personnel and offensively, but we just kind of all hung in there, and we all hung in there together. At this time, we're playing really, really good soccer. We seem to play our best when it's big games. We've had some big games, being fortunate to be in the ACC. When those games come, we would really bring it.
“I thought today we were really good on both sides of the ball. I thought we were really, really good offensively. We moved the ball. We moved the ball well. We attacked at speed. Two great goals, especially the final one, the game-winning one, was a great service and great finish by Taylor [Racioppi]. I thought we defended really well. Obviously we kind of went a little bit on the defensive side at the last 15 minutes or so. I thought EJ [Proctor] was just tremendous. She has been all year in the goal. We're very, very proud and we're very fortunate to be moving on." – Duke head coach Robbie Church
On what to take from this game heading into the Elite Eight to face Stanford:
"It's just another part of the journey. We have goals, obviously. A national championship is our goal and to this group, it becomes another part of our journey. We're just taking -- I know it's cliché -- just one game at a time. We're confident. We won at (North) Carolina this year, we played Florida State very well at our place and we were close with Virginia at their place, so we've been in big games at big venues. We've won on the road, and we have to take that. Stanford is a fantastic team, so we have to take that. But we're very confident right now. We believe in each other, and we're working extremely hard for each other. It's definitely a game that we feel that we can go there to win, and we're looking to do that." – Duke Head Coach Robbie Church
On containing Florida's offense:
"I think a big part too, was the timing of the goal that we got back. Florida scored, and eight minutes later, we got the equalizer back. I think that was really, really big. I think if the game would have gone on a little bit longer or we got to half being down one, we would've had to make some different adjustments. Getting that goal, being even at half, we can come out and play like we wanted to play and like we had game-planned to play. I think it was critical when we scored that goal to bring the game even." – Duke Head Coach Robbie Church
On what he said to the team at halftime:
"I thought we played great. We were up 8-2 in shots and the only shot on goal went in. I thought we were playing very, very well. Let's just keep doing what we were doing. I thought they were finding some place in between our lines. They were finding some place between our backline and our midfielders, so we talked about condensing that space and keeping our lines tight and not letting them turn as balls get played in there. We talked about pressure and we talked about the counter. That was one of the things that we really talked about. Toni Payne was very, very good at winning balls and running at players and getting them on their back foot.
“Our final ball in the first half wasn't great. We did a lot of work until we got down there and then we kind of took an extra touch. That was one of the big things we talked about on the offensive side was just play it a little bit early. We'll win it, let's eat up some space and then let's play it a little bit early, that final ball. Let's just keep doing what we're doing. We were focused, we were making good decisions with the ball, so let's just keep going." – Duke head coach Robbie Church
On how much momentum this win provides for the trip to Palo Alto:
"I think a lot, to be able to come here. Obviously with our seed, we understand we have to travel. We do that in the regular season. I think we're a very good team on the road. We've proven that game in and game out with big games on road. We're very confident we can play anybody now, if it's at our place or now it looks like we're going to California. Not a bad place for Thanksgiving, so we'll head that way." – Duke head coach Robbie Church
On her game-winning goal:
"Everyone was just going forward. We had the ball out wide. We had talked a lot about getting numbers in the box and really pressing into them. I think that I had just happened to be in the right spot at the right time, and put it in the back of the net. It was a great ball and a great deflection, I think off of Kayla (McCoy) too. Just pretty lucky. It came across pretty quick, so I barely reacted on it. It was just pretty fast-moving across the box." – freshman midfielder Taylor Racioppi
On countering Florida's offense:
"Obviously in our scouting report, we went over what were their biggest threats, and we knew that a big part of that would be slowing down Savannah [Jordan] and shutting down the opportunities that she likes to have. It was definitely a very impressive offense. They get numbers forward at a quick pace, and I think our backs just did really well adjusting to that and making sure the midfield was where they need to be in order to slow down their counters and really preventing them from getting any good opportunities." – sophomore goalkeeper EJ Proctor
On not making the NCAA Tournament last season to reaching the Elite Eight this season:
"It was difficult coming off of last season not making the tournament, but I think what was different from this year is just having that true belief that we can win this tournament and that we're a good enough team. Maybe we haven't gotten exactly the results we wanted throughout the regular season with some games, but we know that we can show up for huge games and we've shown that throughout the season.
“I think now's the time that we're doing it, and we're really in stride and we're scoring when we need to and our defense is solid. I think it's all just coming together at the right time and it's really exciting. The belief is there, which is something that wasn't there before." – junior defender Rebecca Quinn
On her equalizing goal:
"I just thought it was a good opportunity to get a second-phase ball in. That was a great service. Just finishing it off, I think that's critical for us, and it has been in the past few games, so just finishing the chances that we can get and creating those chances -- that's all we need to do." – junior defender Rebecca Quinn
What the Gators Said:
Opening Statement
“It's always tough to end the season, it never gets any easier. For me to celebrate the three seniors, Claire [Falknor], Christen [Westphal] and Lauren [Smith], it's not even about what they do on the field, which is all you guys see, but what they have done for our team and the culture of our team. That is something that is going to last way beyond this one game. We talked about on Friday the whole golf ball things and the dents, this is a dent for this program. That is something to keep in perspective too. This is going to help us in the big picture go farther.
“I know it's really easy to just look at it as an ending of a season, but for me I look at the progress that this team made throughout the course of the year and the progress that our culture had made through the course of the year. It's exciting to see things in the future, and the difficult part of it is to have to do it without the three seniors, who have given so much to us.” – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh
Congratulations to the Blue Devils:
“I want to say congratulations to Duke. Robbie [Church] has been a good friend of mine, I think I've known him since I was 17 years old. He's a great guy and they have always had a great program. I'm excited for them to take part in the Brain Bowl next week against Stanford.” – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh
On today's match:
“Duke is a great team, and they played very well defensively. You could tell that they were very prepared to play us, and they stopped a lot of our attack. I'm really proud of our team and how we fought through the entire game. We were still fighting in the last three seconds trying to get a shot off. So I'm really proud, and like Becky said it's going to be a lot different without the seniors. But looking back on this year and seeing where we started and the expectations that people had for this team, and seeing how far we've come, I'm really proud of everyone, especially our three seniors and what they've done for us.” – junior forward Savannah Jordan
On the defensive plan going into the match:
“They were playing low pressure against us, so we had to start the offense. We were just trying to find channels to play in, and Duke made it really difficult because they kept compacting the space. We just kept trying to find feet and send it through the midfield to our forwards.” – senior defender Claire Falknor
On whether or not Florida could get an equalizing goal:
“I thought we could. We've seen where this team has been so resilient, it's kind of the hallmark for this team. I always feel like we've been here before and I though even Kaylan [Marckese] might get a header when she was in the box. I will never count this team out for a second.” – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh
On the positives that they will take from this season:
“I really do feel like there are so many positives. I hate to harp on this but I really do owe that to the seniors because this was a challenging year. Half of our team was brand new, so we were a whole new group coming together. To be able to make that happen in the short period of time we have in the season is such a credit to the seniors. They reached out, made it feel like a really inclusive environment for everyone, and allowed people to make mistakes while they grew. That's something that is going to be a part of our program from this point forward.” – Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh
