Duke fell 1-0 yesterday as the Virginia women's soccer team moved to 2-0 in the ACC. As the teams took the field, sophomore midfielder Jen Redmond ran over to hug Duke's No. 16, her younger sister Elisabeth Redmond; the gesture would be the only warm sentiment felt between the teams for the next 90 minutes.
Indeed, the match against Duke proved not only a family rivalry but also another ACC dogfight. While Virginia out-shot Duke 11-2, the Cavaliers could not seem to find open space -- there was always a blue player in the way, namely, keeper Allison Lipsher.
In the 31st minute, Kristen Weiss played a long ball to Rostdet who then went head to head with Lipsher. Rostdet reached the ball first and tipped it past the keeper, who then all but took Rostdet out. While Klöckner erupted in calls for a foul, the referee did not award the Cavaliers a penalty kick.
Rostdet continued to work hard on the left side of the field and only minutes later took a powerful shot on goal, which, fortunately for Duke, went straight into Lipsher's hands. A short while later, Caitlin Miksel had a nearly identical shot with nearly identical results, and the first half ended in a scoreless tie.
The second half opened with the sibling rivalry in full swing. While their parents sat at the midfield line rooting for a tie, both sisters looked to give their team the go-ahead goal. Early on in the half, Jen Redmond nearly scored on a free kick, but the shot was tipped to the left by a horizontal Lipsher. Then, as the rain started streaming down, Elisabeth Redmond put the ball in back of net, but the goal was invalidated by an offsides call.
"This is the first time we have ever faced each other," Elisabeth Redmond said. "It was really weird and tough to play against Jen, but we have a great relationship, and we made the best of it."
With Jen Redmond's help, Virginia's lone goal came in the 79th minute. Rostdet's tireless efforts finally paid off when Redmond played the ball out to her, and she blasted it into the net from 10 yards out.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jess [Rostdet] hanging out wide," Jen Redmond said. "I knew I had to get to the ball and flick it by the defender. It got to her feet, and [Rostedt] is such a great finisher that she got on it and put it away for us."
Redmond's game-winning assist is her fourth this year, putting her just one off the school record for the most in a given season.
As Virginia sought to run out the clock, the Blue Devils pressed forward. Their efforts at pressuring Virginia's goal were frustrated, however, by offsides call after offsides call. The new field position also meant that Lipsher had to come out of Duke's net whenever Virginia put the ball past a defense that had pushed up almost to midfield line. Still, Virginia failed to score again and for the third time this season, it was Rostdet's goal that proved the game winner.
"I thought we actually got better as the game went on," Virginia coach Steve Swanson said. "Our team defending was very good, and that goal was a great sequence, great soccer. We are happy with two wins this week, but they were both home games. Now we have to show we can win on the road too."
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