Casey McCluskey Nets Two Goals As Duke Downs Long Beach State, 3-0

Saturday, September 11

Honolulu, Hawaii

7:00 PM

Duke University

4-2

Long Beach State

3-1-1

Duke University

Long Beach State

Casey McCluskey Nets Two Goals As Duke Downs Long Beach State, 3-0

9/12/2004 1:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

Sept. 12, 2004

Box Score

WAIPIO, HAWAII - Led by two first half goals by senior Casey McCluskey, the 24th-ranked Duke women's soccer team defeated Long Beach State, 3-1, on Saturday on the second day of the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Soccer Classic at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium in Waipio, Hawaii. The Blue Devils improve to 4-2 with all four wins being shutouts, while Long Beach State falls to 3-1-1.

After having a number of early scoring opportunities, the Blue Devils got on the board as McCluskey scored her second goal of the season at the 20-minute mark. McCluskey, a native of Springfield, Va., got a feed from sophomore Lauren Tippets and took the ball up the left side. She was able to beat a defender and hit the left corner of the goal past Long Beach State goalkeeper, Tara Gotthardt.

McCluskey then registered her second goal of the contest at the 33:36 mark of the half. Junior Carolyn Ford took a free kick that went off a few players before junior Kate Seibert sent a great pass to McCluskey, who then blasted it past Gotthardt on the left side of the net. It marks the seventh time in McCluskey's career she has collected two goals in a contest.

"Casey does a great job of breaking people down, and with her moving up to forward these last two games, she is so much closer to the goal so she can create more opportunities," said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. "She is so dangerous and Casey is playing with such an aggressiveness right now. I don't know if she is going to get it, but I think she deserves M.V.P of this tournament."

The Blue Devils led 2-0 at the end of the first half, while outshooting the 49ers, 13-1.

The goals for McCluskey were the 26th and 27th of her career and she now owns 61 career points, which ranks tied for sixth on Duke's all-time list along with Meegan MuMullin. Her 27 goals is fourth all-time.

Junior Carolyn Riggs added her first goal of the season and 18th of her career to give the Blue Devils a 3-0 advantage in the 76th minute. Riggs, an Indianapolis, Ind., native, grabbed a long pass from Tippets and flipped the ball over the Long Beach State keeper.

"I thought we started slow, but the last 25 minutes of the first half we played really well," said Church. "We had a great performance, especially, with us playing on back-to-back nights. For us to come back tonight and dominate the match, it showed the maturity of our team and the direction our team is going."

Blue Devil freshman goalkeeper, Allison Lipsher, notched the third shutout of her early career and improves to 3-2 on the season, after finishing with one save on the night. It marks the second straight night Lipsher, a product of Honolulu, Hawaii, has collected a shutout in her home state of Hawaii.

"What a story Allison is being able to return home and play in front of her family and friends these last two games," said Church. "Allison is growing each and every game and getting better and better. For her to post back-to-back shutouts is very impressive and I know this has been a special time for her this week."

Overall for the evening, Duke outshot Long Beach State, 24-3. For the Blue Devils, Tippets finished the night with two assists.

"I am very happy with the way this week has turned out," said Church. "It has been a fantastic week for us both on and off the field. It has been a great learning experience and I am very appreciative of our athletic department coming out here."

Duke will next host the 14th annual Duke/adidas Women's Soccer Classic on Sept. 17 and 19 at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C. Competing in this year's tournament includes Georgia, Furman and top-ranked North Carolina. Furman and North Carolina will get things started on Friday, Sept. 17 at 5:00 p.m., followed by Duke versus Georgia at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, North Carolina and Georgia will play at 1:00 p.m., while Duke takes on Furman at 3:30 p.m.

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