In the sweltering Sunday afternoon heat, the women’s soccer team desperately needed to score as Duke (8-3-1, 2-1 ACC) led 1-0 in the final minute of the game. Looking for some sort of shot on goal, N.C. State (5-4-2, 0-3 ACC) found Briana Cunningham in Blue Devil territory.
With less than a second on the clock, Cunningham bulleted a long shot into the top of the net, past several Duke defenders and over the head of goalkeeper Allison Lipsher.
The players rushed the field in excitement. The audience cheered loudly. And the game was going into overtime.
The referee, however, ruled that the ball failed to leave contact with Cunningham’s foot before the buzzer sounded.
“It was a brilliant shot,” coach Laura Kerrigan said. “Our team just kept playing, 10 seconds left — who cares, they keep playing. It was an absolute brilliant shot into the net. Unfortunately the referee didn’t count it, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it was a brilliant shot and that our team never quit until the very end.”
According to sophomore Katie Ruiz, the team had a chance to tie the game because it never let its energy level down.
“It was a great effort,” Ruiz said. “We said to each other that we would work hard until the last whistle blew and we did, but unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted.”
Freshman Nadia Aboulhosn said the team played well but failed to capitalize when it was in scoring range.
“Converting opportunities into goals is a big issue,” Aboulhosn said. “When we get our chances we really need to finish them, because they’re only going to come a few times a game. That’s the difference. That’s how Duke beat us. They had one scoring opportunity and they finished on it.”
At the 59:04 mark, Aboulhosn fired a shot from the right side of the field that grazed the top bar of the goal. She had several other failed opportunities as well, as she paced the Wolfpack with two shots and one assist.
“The team really worked well when we pushed it through the middle and came out the weak side,” Aboulhosn said. “I was wide open probably the whole game. Once I got it I just tried to get down to the end line to get it across.”
State restricted Duke to fewer than 10 shots, while managing to keep the ball on the opposite end of the field for the majority of the game.
“The defense did solid,” Aboulhosn said. “We’ve been working on positioning and everything, and I think they pulled it off well today.”
The team also views the results of this game as promising. Despite the loss they maintain an optimistic outlook on the future.
“We played very well defensively,” Ruiz said. “I think that this is the best that we’ve played up until now and that we’ll continue to get better each game.”
