On Friday night, the Georgia women’s soccer team will face Duke in the second round of the NCAA tournament, a team ranked third in the nation and a No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Nicole Locandro and the Lady Dogs believe they can beat top seeded Duke. FILE PHOTO

That doesn’t mean the Bulldogs are worried.

“Duke’s a great team, but this is why we play the game,” head coach Steve Holeman said. “They’re certainly beatable.”

Ranking isn’t everything, sophomore Nicole Locandro said.

“Who cares if they’re No. 1 in the nation?” she said.

Duke is one of the top soccer programs in the ACC, the conference that sent the most teams to the NCAA tournament this year.

But Duke (18-3-1) is not unbeatable. The Blue Devils lost to No. 24 Auburn, No. 19 North Carolina and No. 6 Wake Forest this season, though by a margin of only one goal. Georgia (13-6-2) tied Auburn on Oct. 26, proving that the Bulldogs can play on the same level.

“We play in one of the top conferences in the country, and by no means has anyone in our league blown us out,” Holeman said. “We never felt like we stepped on the field and didn’t deserve to be there. We earned our way into the national tournament and into the final 32, so we certainly feel like we’re good enough to beat anyone.”

The Bulldogs will have to be at the top of their game because Duke more than lives up to the hype, Holeman said.

“Duke’s a great team, they’re a No. 1 seed… They’re hardworking, they’re extremely talented [and] they’re well-coached,” he said. “When you see them on video, they’re as good as advertised. We have to have to be at our best.”

After several winless weeks, the Bulldogs seem to be back on track. They ended their offensive scoring drought on Sunday, and are feeling more confident heading into the second round.

“We feel good, obviously coming off a big win over Kansas where we not only got a good result, but we played well,” Holeman said. “We feel confident, energized and ready to go.”

Georgia is 2-4 all-time against Duke, losing the last four. More recently, the Bulldogs fell 1-0 to Duke in Athens in their first game of the 2010 season, though they outshot Duke 21-14.

Getting an upset victory this year would send the team to the third round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998, and would be just the second time in the program’s history that Georgia made it into the Sweet 16.

“It would definitely shock the country,” Locandro said. “I think that’s what we want … I think right now we’re the underdogs, but that gives us nothing to lose, so [we’ll] just give everything on Friday.”

If they make it into the Sweet 16, the Bulldogs will take on either Ohio State or UW Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon.

“This is so important,” Pollock said. “It’s either we win, or the season’s over. I am sure I speak for everyone when I say this that we are just going to play our hearts out. I know that none of us want our season to be over, so it’s really important that we win, otherwise it’s just over.”

But the win would bring pride to the players, the coaches, the soccer program and to the Bulldog Nation, as well.

“It’d be a great win,” Holeman said. “It’d probably go down as one of the top wins for me personally. That might be the biggest one of my career, [and] for the University of Georgia. That’s got to be right up there with some of the top wins in the history of the program, so it’s an incredible opportunity to play a No. 1 seed in the national tournament.”