Blue Devils Claim Duke adidas Classic Led By Two Goals From Casey McCluskey

Sunday, September 19

Durham, N.C.

3:30 PM

Duke University

6-2-0

Furman

2-6-0

Furman

#22 Duke University

Blue Devils Claim Duke adidas Classic Led By Two Goals From Casey McCluskey

9/19/2004 1:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

Sept. 19, 2004

DURHAM, N.C. - For the first time since 1995, the Duke women's soccer team claimed the Duke adidas Classic title as the Blue Devils defeated Furman, 7-0, on Sunday at Koskinen Stadium, led by two first half goals from senior Casey McCluskey.

The Blue Devils finished the tournament with two victories on 10 goals scored, while North Carolina also won two matches but only scored eight goals. Duke improves to 6-2, while Furman falls to 2-6.

"Our goal was to come out this weekend and win our tournament," said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. "Since I have been here we have won on Friday night and lost on Sunday so we wanted to be very consistent this weekend. That is what we are doing right now and over the last four games we have stepped in focused and played hard. A lot of players are playing real well right now."

McCluskey, named the Duke adidas Classic MVP, finished the weekend with four goals and on Sunday registered her third straight game with two goals. A Springfield, Va., product, now owns seven goals scored on the season and 31 for her career, which ranks third on Duke's all-time list. Her 69 career points is now tied for fourth on Duke's all-time list. Her MVP award is the second she has received in the last week as she earned the honor last Monday in the Outrigger Soccer Classic.

Duke wasted no time getting on the board in the first half as sophomore Sarah McCabe sent a cross to McCluskey who found the upper left corner of the goal past Furman goalkeeper, Andie Hinshaw, with less than five minutes into the contest. At the 12-minute mark, sophomore Rachel-Rose Cohen sent a feed down the left side to sophomore Rebecca Moros who found McCluskey in front of the goal. McCluskey settled the ball and flipped it over the head of Hinshaw who caught the ball, but it was inside the goal to give Duke a 2-0 advantage.

The Blue Devils added one more goal at the 19:43 mark as McCabe found Moros who blasted a right-footed shot from 18 yards out for her first goal of the season. At the end of the first half, Duke held an 11-2 shot advantage and a 3-0 lead.

Coming out of halftime, the Blue Devils needed two more goals to tie North Carolina for the Duke adidas Classic title and would come alive with 17 minutes remaining in the match. Junior Shelly Marshall sent a corner kick at the goal from the right side and found junior Heidi Hollenbeck for a header on the far left side of the goal at the 73rd minute. It marked the second time this season Hollenbeck has collected a goal off a header on a corner kick.

Junior Carolyn Riggs added her second goal of the season just three minutes later off assists from Lauren Tippets and Lorraine Quinn to give Duke a 5-0 advantage.

One of the most spectacular goals of the season for the Blue Devils came at the 81:43 mark as Marshall sent a corner kick in from the right side, bent the ball around the goal and landed in the back left side of the net for her second goal in as many games. Marshall, an Arcadia, Calif., native, now has three goals scored on the season.

"I have seen it a couple of times in high school and college, but you don't see a goal off a corner kick like that very often," said Church. "The way she bends the ball towards the goalkeeper is incredible and it was nice for us to score a goal that way."

Sophomore Katie Roark added the seventh and final goal of the contest in the 83rd minute as goalkeeper Kate Straka kicked the ball down the field and bounced to Roark, who was able to beat the goalkeeper for her first career goal.

Straka, a Barrington Hills, Ill., product, picked up her second shutout of the season in as many starts and has not allowed a goal in 173 minutes. Among netting two saves on the day, Straka collected her first career assist on the goal by Roark. Duke's defense has now registered four straight shutouts and six total for the season.

"I think we got a little embarrassed when we played Florida and gave up five goals," said Church. "We knew we should never give up five goals with the team we have. Our goalkeepers as well as our forwards, midfielders and defenders are all working really well, especially when they don't have the ball. Overall, its been a great team effort."

Duke finished with a 31-4 shot advantage the 7-0 loss by Furman is the worst loss for the Paladins since Sept. 24, 1996 as Clemson won 8-0. In the first match of the afternoon, North Carolina defeated Georgia off goals from Elizabeth Guess, Anne Morrell and Jaime Gilbert.

Other members of the All-Tournament team include Marshall (Duke), Moros (Duke), Kate Seibert (Duke), Carmen Bognanno (Duke), Lindsey Tarpley (UNC), Ariel Harris (UNC), Lori Chalupny (UNC), Jessica Maxwell (UNC), Randi-Lynn Bruso (UGA) and Ashley Lindley (UGA).

Duke will next host Davidson on Friday, Sept. 24 at 4:00 p.m., before traveling to Wake Forest on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 6:00 p.m. to open Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action.

Game Notes-- The last time Duke won its own tournament was in 1995 when it was called the Duke Women's Classic and the Blue Devils defeated Ohio State (5-0) and Texas (3-0) ... Six different players scored goals for the Blue Devils and 12 total players have now scored goals this season ... Duke has outsocred its opponents by a 15-0 margin the last four contests.

2004 Duke adidas Classic All-Tournament Team

Casey McCluskey, Duke (MVP)
Shelly Marshall, Duke
Carmen Bognanno, Duke
Kate Seibert, Duke
Rebecca Moros, Duke
Lindsey Tarpley, North Carolina
Ariel Harris, North Carolina
Lori Chalupny, North Carolina
Jessica Maxwell, North Carolina
Randi-Lynn Bruso, Georgia
Ashley Lindley, Georgia