A pair of second half goals Sunday saved the weekend for the LSU soccer team at the Duke Nike Classic.The Tigers (4-2-2) secured a 2-2 draw against Duke with just five minutes to play in their final non-conference game of the regular season. The team played close with No. 1 North Carolina on Friday before falling, 1-0, in the final minutes.”We faced a real character test at halftime to fight our way back and get a result [Saturday] afternoon,” said LSU coach Brian Lee in a news release. “Duke is an excellent team and this is a difficult place for anyone to play. But I am very proud that our girls kept fighting until the very end and of the tremendous character they displayed in the second half. I also thought the team really stepped it up in the absence of [senior midfielder] Melissa Clarke.”Clarke is the Tigers’ leading goal scorer with five but missed Sunday’s game after playing 78 minutes against North Carolina.The Blue Devils (5-3-1) jumped on LSU early in their meeting, scoring in the 18th and 38th minutes on the efforts of senior forward KayAnne Gummersall and junior midfielder Marybeth Kreger.The Tigers fired just two shots on goal before halftime and didn’t seem likely to find their rhythm.”We haven’t learned to come out in the second half after putting a good half on and just kill their spirits,” said Duke coach Robbie Church after the game. “I don’t know if it is a maturity thing about our young team.” LSU senior midfielder Malorie Rutledge closed the margin just three minutes after the intermission when she drilled a pass from senior forward Rachel Yepez from 15 yards out to make it 2-1.”That is twice we have played a great first half and we gave up a goal in the first five minutes of the second half,” Church said. “It just changes the whole complex of the team.”The goal gives Rutledge four on the season after she bagged two last weekend against Louisiana-Lafayette and one against Southern Miss on Aug. 28.Rutledge and junior midfielder Courtney Alexander earned themselves places on the all-tournament team.Duke junior defender Gretchen Miller sealed the comeback for LSU when she knocked an errant cross into her own goal to tie the score, 2-2.The pair failed to score in overtime, giving LSU its second draw of the season.”We played some of the best soccer of the year today and the weekend too,” Church said.  “It is frustrating for all of us because we played well enough to win.  Key decisions at different points, opportunities in front of the goal — the kids are working so hard and trying so hard.  We have talked about it a couple of times that we over-try in there; we can let things relax.  It is a very difficult pill to swallow, but we have to move on.”The late-game dramatics offset what was a disappointing outing against the Tar Heels (7-0-1). The Tigers played the defending national champions to 76 scoreless minutes before North Carolina junior forward Jessica McDonald headed in a left-hand cross with just 12 minutes to play.North Carolina took six shots on the goal while holding the Tigers to two, but LSU became one of just four teams this season to stay within one goal of the Tar Heels.”This was a good, positive step forward for us this season. I thought it was a great effort from the entire team for the full 90 minutes,” Lee said in a press release Friday night. “We’re certainly not happy with the result, but North Carolina is an outstanding team and without a doubt the No. 1 team in the country.Auburn was the other Southeastern Conference school to attend the Duke Nike Classic and performed admirably in a similar weekend to LSU, falling to Duke, 2-1, in overtime Friday night before drawing North Carolina, 0-0, on Sunday.LSU now turns to its conference schedule, which begins Friday night against No. 18 Georgia (6-0-1). The Bulldogs capped off their non-conference schedule Friday night with a 2-1 win against Clemson.—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]