"I might cook, clean, but still won't fold," Beyonce sings in "16 Carriages" and the line might as well have been written for this year's Duke Blue Devils. Cowboy Carter, meet the Blue Devils. They've cooked and cleaned opponents, all while not folding in tough games. It's been a dominant season and a dominant NCAA run for Duke, which makes them a logical choice to be Cowboy Carter. Similar to how Beyonce made a country album to demonstrate both that she could and that there were historical reasons to, this season is a culmination of a lot of good, but not great, Blue Devil seasons.
Recaps: Tournament, Season, UNC
To recap, briefly, how the Blue Devils made it to the College Cup: shutouts. Throughout the first four rounds, Duke has yet to concede a goal, the only team to do so. And it hasn't just been stringent defense—the Blue Devils have scored 14 goals so far. Granted, eight came in their opener against Howard, but teams like Michigan State and Texas Tech gave up two and three goals respectively. The cliche is that defense wins championships, but the Blue Devils have an elite defense and an elite offense. The chemistry is undeniable, and Duke is comfortable feeling out teams for 20 or 25 minutes before scoring.
This is a Duke team that has lost two games all season: the 1-0 season opener against Ohio State and an ACC Tournament first round loss to UNC. The only other bump in the road? A 3-3 tie to Notre Dame late in the season. Otherwise, it's been a bit of a ridiculous season for the Blue Devils. Including post season games, Duke has a historic 68 goals this season—a new season record. They've accomplished this while limiting their opponents to just 13 goals all season. Stifling might be an understatement here. The Blue Devils also take a lot of shots over the course of a game, averaging 19.7. To make that sound a little crazier, Duke took 414 shots this season and 49% or 203 were on target. Yes, nearly 50% of the Blue Devils' shots are on target.
With that stat in mind, is it any surprise that Duke has made commanding wins over good teams their brand this season? The highlights of the season are a 4-1 win over Stanford (a potential championship match up) and a 2-0 win over Wake Forest (the other potential match up). The Blue Devils beat both Missouri and Boston College 7-0, examples of how thoroughly they can dismantle a defense. It's been a regular season of goals. Duke scored one goal or less only four times this season and went (2-2) in those games. The Blue Devils will blitz you on offense while keeping you locked out on defense. After all, this is a team that has posted 12 shutouts so far.
To be even more niche, this season the Blue Devils are 2-1 against North Carolina. Duke took the first game 1-0 with a goal by Maggie Graham in the 45th minute. In the regular season closing match, Duke won 3-2. Hannah Bebar scored the first two, UNC answered, Maggie Graham pulled one back to restore the two-goal lead, and then the Tar Heels scored one more late to keep things interesting. The two teams turned around to face each other in the ACC tournament seven days later where North Carolina got their revenge in a 2-1 loss for Duke. Cameron Roller scored in the 29th minute for the Blue Devils.
Tactics and Storylines
The big storyline? Head Coach Robbie Church has Hallmark writers on his side as he secured win No. 398 in the 1-0 quarterfinal victory against Virginia Tech. If he wins the semifinal, that's win No. 399 and the final would be, you guessed it, perfect number 400. All of that is extra fitting given that Church announced his retirement at the start of the year, meaning these are the last two games of his career. Duke has never won an NCAA championship, adding a little bit of extra magic to the potentially perfect ending that the Blue Devils are hoping for.
Tactically, it's the fourth time meeting up with UNC, so expect familiarity. The Blue Devils will want revenge for the ACC tournament, but the key will be managing the big picture within the smaller one. Church even pointed this out when asked about how to prepare for UNC for the fourth time by Kipp Coons of Press Box View.
"It's the semifinal game," Church said. "We're not focusing on 'Oh, we're playing North Carolina. We're not gonna treat it any differently. We've had, it seems, a pretty successful formula. It's another step in our process."
Mentally, this game is about who can make the other one mess up, initially just first but preferably often. UNC won't leave Maggie Graham open, but who will they? Who can exploit the space at the top of the box or dummy a pass with the knowledge that there's another Blue Devil making a run? Duke likes to feel teams out, looking their most lethal after a good 25 minutes of play. If UNC doesn't allow them that feeling out time or pressures early, how does Duke respond and create that breathing space to solve a very familiar foe? Sure, that's partially about tactics, but it's mostly about meeting the moment and controlling emotions.
Controlling space is the key for a Duke team that finds success by overloading in space. The Blue Devils consistently move the ball, and, in doing so, move the opposition out of their defensive spacing, freeing up players to score. Continuing that movement and finding ways around a rock-solid UNC defense will be how Duke finds success.
This is a creative and efficient Duke team taking on a creative, but less efficient UNC team. Both of these teams are incredibly skilled at taking advantage of little moments and opportunities to inflict maximum damage. To focus on not making mistakes would give the advantage to UNC. Instead, Duke will need to risk those turnovers in North Carolina's offensive third and trust their midfield and defense to regain possession.
Press Notes:
Unique about Duke:
"The ability, they just, they have fun, they laugh. Everybody says 'oh it's your culture, you have great team culture.' And you know, everybody has good team culture. The team culture is unbelievable."
"This group absolutely loves being together. We were together Thanksgiving day and all the girls were in the back room...and there was laughing and hollering and screaming from the back room and this is Nov.28 and we started this journey in Janurary. Our goal each week, especially in the NCAA tournament is stay together another week. We want to be together another week."
Special about North Carolina: Victor Olorunfemi, Top Drawer Soccer
"I think it's the universities, the support that the universities give women's soccer. It's an important sport in our state, it's supported by the youth players, it's supported by the universities, it's one of our main sports on the women's side."
"It's the great conference we're in. We've been in this conference year in and year out. I don't have to sit here and toot the horn of the ACC, it does that by itself with six of the eight teams in the final eight. It's the rivalries that are here, the coaches that are here, the staff that are here."
"Women's soccer is an important sport in the ACC and women's soccer is an important sport in North Carolina. And it goes back to the support we get from the local communities too. Obviously, we put a lot of people in the stands and we have a lot of people who watch our games and it's important.
Retirement Season (Anne Peterson, Associated Press)
"It is my last season, I've been reminded of that a lot. ...obviously, it's a dream season. I mean who thought coming into this season things would...you hope and you dream and we knew we had a good team there's no question about that. We knew we could be competitive, we knew we could play championships. I've enjoyed every single moment of this year."
The Blue Devils season mirrors how sonically cohesive and pointed Cowboy Carter is. This season has been a statement by Duke and it should be read as such. This season is a love letter and farewell to Robbie Church, which could easily become a requiem if the Blue Devils don't win. Beyonce made the album with audacious intentions, despite being the biggest name in pop music. Similarly, the Blue Devils are making a point, despite being one of the biggest names in college soccer already. This isn't a debut or a finally getting respect moment, this is a you-will-pay-attention-to-me-in-all-fonts-and-genres moment. And just like Cowboy Carter's rendition of "Jolene" Duke is taking zero prisoners in their quest for a national title.
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