The Bulldogs ended their scoring drought, beating Kansas (11-9-1) 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

ASHLEY MILLER

With this win, Georgia (13-6-2) will advance to the second round of the tournament, where they will face No. 1 seed Duke on Nov. 18.

“If anyone had any questions that we deserved to be in the tournament I think we answered them,” head coach Steve Holeman said. “I think we made a bit of a statement today.”

Last year, the Jayhawks traveled to Athens, losing 5-0 to Georgia. Though the result was the same, the atmosphere was incredibly different this year.

“It wasn’t at home and there’s so much more on the line this time,” senior defender Jenna Buckley said. “Today was do or die and it changed the game drastically. We were just the better team.”

After failing to score a goal in the run of play in their last four games, the Bulldogs found their offensive rhythm again.

“We’ve been pretty good at creating opportunities, it was just a matter of finishing,” Holeman said. “We’ve spent a lot of time this week in front of the net and I think that paid dividends.”

The player to break the drought was senior forward Ashley Miller. Miller caught a pass from Buckley and shot the ball past Kansas goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud early in the second half, putting the Bulldogs up 1-0 and giving them their first offensive goal since Oct. 16.

“It was exciting,” Miller said. “The second half we came out ready to go and Jenna’s ball was perfectly played…It’s always exciting when you score, but it definitely was a good way to go out.”

The goal gave new life to the offense, Buckley said.

“It felt great and it came at a good time,” she said. “It was pretty much a stalemate and it gave us momentum for the rest of the game.”

The second goal came seven minutes later when sophomore Alexa Newfield dribbled the ball from midfield, dodged a defender and shot it into the goal in the 59^thminute of the game.

“It’s always nice getting a second goal,” Buckley said. “The second goal obviously helped and gave us a little cushion.”

The goal was Newfield’s 16^th of the season, double the eight goals she scored in 2010 and good enough to lead the SEC in goals, goals per game and game-winning goals.

But the Bulldogs emphasized teamwork over individual contributions.

“This was an overall team effort today,” Miller said. “The defense did their job and the offense did too.”

Keeper Ashley Baker preserved the shutout for the Bulldogs, making a diving stop in the 89^th minute to keep a shot from Ingrid Vidal out of the goal.

This defensive ability is one that they will need to beat Duke next weekend, Holeman said.

“Defensively we have the ability to shut down any attack,” he said. “We just shut out a Kansas team that has only been shut out twice this season. [Duke has] a very, very dangerous attack so we’re gonna have to be at our best.”

Duke (18-3-1) is ranked third in the nation and will be the toughest opponent the team has seen this year. The Blue Devils beat Radford 5-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, allowing the Highlanders only one shot during the entire game.

But the Bulldogs are hoping for an upset.

“I think we have great momentum,” Buckley said. “We’re all excited to go to Duke and we think we can beat them.”