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New Hero(ine) - Kealia Ohai's Late Goal Was The Difference Against Duke

North Carolina 1 (Ohai 88′) – 0 Duke

Kealia Ohai made Duke pay dearly for missed opportunities, converting late at the end of a set piece to lead UNC to a win that puts them right back in the ACC title race. Duke had already been dealt a major blow before the match when star freshman forward Kelly Cobb had been ruled out with a practice injury. The absence of the predatory striker was clearly felt as the visitors spurned chance after chance. Ohai would cash in after a handball call saw Amber Brooks slide and redirect the free kick across the goalmouth to the sophomore who managed to poke the ball through Tara Campbell’s legs as she slid to the turf. Ohai’s now scored in three straight and could be beginning to heat up for UNC, an ominous thought for opponents. Even though they were helped by Cobb’s absence, the Heels did enough to shut down Duke’s offense just enough to keep the clean sheet, though the visitors’ wayward finishing also played a role. UNC may still be coming to grips with the new 4-2-3-1 formation, but they’ve won four in a row now and could be in the box seat for the title again if they can prevail against Wake Forest on Sunday.

Robbie Church complained bitterly of what he perceived as “timidity” from his Duke side in the first third of the game, perhaps a side effect of some of his team’s youth. While the team obviously missed the finishing of Cobb, they were also without the services of Erin Koballa, a defensive starter, for much of the match as she also fights back from injury. It showed at times too as the Blue Devils gave up a massive amount of corners to the Heels, though nothing came of most of them. The Blue Devils shook off the nerves later on but saw their finishing fail them en route to the defeat. The health of Cobb will be the talk of Durham for the next week in all likelihood. She’s got a week to heal, and Duke may need her at full strength in another match with title implications as they visit Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest.

Florida State 0 – 3 (Hubka 6′, Kaplan 9′, Grove 24′) Maryland

Florida State’s disastrous ACC season continued in earnest as they dominated the run of play against Maryland but suffered a heavy defeat after conceding three goals early in the first half. The Noles essentially hit Maryland with everything including the kitchen sink after going down 3-0, but it was too little, too late. Danielle Hubka’s blast into the upper-right corner set the tone, while Becky Kaplan doubled the lead a few minutes later. An Ashley Grove header a quarter of an hour later all but put this one to bed, though Maryland would have to defend doggedly to keep the clean sheet. Maryland keeper Yewande Balogun was outstanding in goal for the Terps, making ten saves, including one on Toni Pressley from the penalty spot after Dagny Brynjarsdottir had been dragged down in the box. This was quite the statement from the Terps, whose offense finally resembled what many thought it’d look like at the beginning of the season. Now they have to stay consistent on Sunday against a Miami (FL) team coming in off a huge win over Boston College. Maryland still has a chance at a top four spot in the league, but they need to beat the Canes on Sunday.

Where on Earth does Florida State go from here? They would miss the ACC Tournament if the season ended today, and this group looks bereft of confidence after five losses in seven league matches. There are no gimmes left on the schedule either. Boston College will be desperate coming into Tallahassee on Sunday after a loss tonight, and further defeat to the Eagles could mean FSU would be in a “Save Our Season” type of match against Miami (FL) next weekend. The Noles’ experiment with bringing Toni Pressley up front has not panned out with FSU’s offense still struggling to finish, while the defense has been shredded by Virginia and Maryland, even though the Terps only put three shots on the board on Thursday. Something clearly has to change if this team wants to make any kind of meaningful run in November.

Santa Clara 0 – 0 BYU

Santa Clara and BYU played out a pulsating scoreless draw that leaves the latter perilously placed in the bubble race while doing little for either’s title hopes. The match flowed in remarkable fashion with Santa Clara having a number of gilt edged chances fall their way only to be undone by no small end of poor finishing that saw the Broncos push balls wide and high of the target. SCU held BYU without much in the way of shots for the longest time but eventually started to wear down and let the visitors back into the match. While the Broncos’ defense was mostly up to the task, it was a step back for an offense that had looked like it had turned the corner in recent weeks. That offense has to get rolling again, because after what should be a comfortable win against San Francisco, the Broncos head to Merlo for the derby against Portland that could ultimately have a major sway in Santa Clara’s title hopes before they entertain Pepperdine later in the year.

Considering they were being overrun for much of the first hour, BYU under most circumstances would consider a 0-0 draw on the road to a tough opponent a nice achievement. For bubble purposes though, a win here was really needed, and the Cougars find themselves needing a bunch of wins, maybe even all five remaining games, to avoid a stressful Selection Monday. BYU’s offensive troika of Payne, Jepson, and Marshall were shut down with no shots combined, meaning it was a good thing that Niki Fernandes made her return from injury after missing the last ten games through injury. The tricky forward provided a real spark from off the bench, and her form could be crucial down the stretch. The road trip continues on Saturday against Gonzaga, a must win if BYU is to keep their bubble hopes in decent condition.

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This post is related to events on our Calendar:

• NCAA DI Soccer Championships - First Round
• NCAA DI Soccer Championships - Second Round
• NCAA Soccer Elite Eight

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• 2011 NCAA Soccer

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