Duke Travels To Clemson On Thursday For 7:00 PM Tilt

DURHAM, N.C. ? Coming off winning its fourth straight league contest, the sixth-ranked Duke Women's Soccer team will hit the road on Wednesday for a match on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at Clemson. The game will be the first of a key two consecutive matches on the road as the Blue Devils will head to Tallahassee, Fla., this weekend for a 1:00 p.m. tilt at ninth-ranked Florida State.

Duke enters Thursday's play with an 11-2-1 and 5-2 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action, while Clemson is 7-6-2, 2-4-1. The Blue Devils remained ranked sixth in the NSCAA, eighth in the Soccer America, eighth in the Soccer Buzz and eighth in the SoccerTimes.com polls this week, while Clemson is not ranked.

After starting 1-2 in league play, the Blue Devils have won four straight ACC matches and have outscored opponents 7-1 during the stretch. It marks the first time since 1997 that the Blue Devils have won four consecutive league matches. Duke has not won more than five league matches since the 1997 campaign when the Blue Devils finished with a 6-1 mark. Last season, Duke posted a 5-4 ACC mark.

The match at Clemson will be another tough ACC battle for Duke as the Blue Devils have not defeated the Tigers since 2000 with the Blue Devils losing the last six in a row. No member of the Duke team has won a match against Clemson in their career. In matches played in Clemson, S.C., Duke owns a 2-3 ledger with the last victory coming in 1997, 3-0.

In the latest NCAA stats, the Blue Devils rank fifth nationally in goals against average (0.349), 10th in shutout percentage (0.64) and 15th in won-loss percentage (0.821). The five goals allowed by Duke this season is tied for the second fewest in NCAA Division I this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Allison Lipsher is listed seventh in goals against average (0.359).

Earlier in the week, Duke senior Carolyn Ford earned ACC Player of the Week honors after notching the game-winning assists in victories against 12th-ranked Wake Forest and Maryland. She also led the Blue Devil defense to two shutouts and allowing only nine shots in two matches. Ford, a product of Bethesda, Md., was also selected to the Soccer America National Team of the Week, while Lipsher earned TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week accolades.

It marked the second straight week a Duke player had been named ACC Player of the Week as Rebecca Moros earned the honor the week before.

NOTES:

? Duke opened league play 4-0 in 1997 and finished the season with a school-record six league wins.
? Duke has outscored its opponents, 22-5, in the 14 matches this season.
? The Blue Devils have outshot their opponents 223-86.
? Duke now leads the series with Maryland, 12-10-2.
? Sophomore goalkeeper Allison Lipsher has registered seven shutouts and a 0.36 goals against average this season. In two years at Duke, Lipsher has totaled 16 shutouts.

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