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 19^th-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. (ET) 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 29^th 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 57^th 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 64^th 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 12^th 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