Groff’s Late Goal Sends Duke into the NCAA Round 16

DURHAM – A header by junior Katie Groff in the 88th minute was all the Duke women’s soccer team needed on Friday against 16th-ranked Texas as the Blue Devils collected a 1-0 victory to move into the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 for the third straight year.  

Graduate student Mackenzie Pluck sent a corner kick in from the left side and Groff punched in her second goal of the season to push the Blue Devils (14-4-3) into a round of 16 matchup on Sunday, Nov. 20 against third-seeded South Carolina at 6 p.m., in Durham.  

How It Happened

•    In the eighth minute, Duke featured a few great scoring chances as Mackenzie Pluck’s header was saved and then had an attempt hit the crossbar, before Kat Rader’s shot sailed high over the goal. The chances were started off by a great defensive play by graduate student Delaney Graham as she stepped up to steal a pass from a Texas defender.

•    The Blue Devils controlled most of the possession in the first half and featured excellent defense limiting Texas to only two shots.  

•    Duke held an 8-2 advantage on shots in the first half.

•    The Blue Devils hit the crossbar in the 65th minute as freshman Devin Lynch used her left foot from outside the box and placed a ball that went off the crossbar and out of bounds.

•    At the 77:55 mark, Katie Groff sent a long feed down the left side of the pitch to a streaking Michelle Cooper, who crossed a ball in front of the goal, but Rader’s shot was blocked from eight yards out.  

•    Duke then featured six corner kicks over a span of 12 minutes late in the match and had four excellent chances at a goal, but the Longhorn defense stood strong.

•    That was the case until the 87:42 mark when Pluck found Groff for the game-winner.  

•    The Blue Devils held a 20-7 advantage in shots for the match with Pluck (5), Rader (5) and Cooper (4) leading the way.

Notes

•    Duke improved to 7-0 all-time at home in the NCAA Tournament second round matches.

•    The Blue Devils are now 27-3-1 in NCAA Tournament matches played in Durham, N.C.

•    The shutout was the 11th of the season, and third straight, for the Duke defense.  Ruthie Jones collected two saves over 90 minutes to…