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Duke To Face Boston College In ACC Championship On Wednesday
10/31/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Duke To Compete In ACC Championship This Week...
For the second straight year, the Duke Women's Soccer team will enter play in the ACC Championship as the fourth seed. The Blue Devils will take on fifth-seeded Boston College on Wednesday at the SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C. at 8:00 p.m.
The Blue Devils enter the tournament with a 12-4-1 overall and 6-4-0 league record, while the Eagles are 11-4-2, 5-4-1. The winner of the Duke/Boston College game will face the winner of the top-seeded North Carolina versus eighth-seeded Maryland match on Friday at 5:00 p.m. in the semifinals.
In The Rankings...
In last week's rankings, Blue Devils were 10th in the Soccer America poll, while being ranked 11th by SoccerTimes.com, 12th by Soccer Buzz and 13th by the NSCAA. Boston College is ranked 13th in Soccer America, 10th by SoccerTimes.com, eighth by NSCAA and 11th in the Soccer Buzz listings.
The Series...
The Blue Devils and Eagles will meet for the third time in school history as the series is currently tied, 1-1. Earlier this season, Boston College defeated Duke, 1-0, in Chestnut Hill, Mass. In 1990, the Blue Devils blanked Boston College, 3-0, in Durham, N.C.
Duke In the ACC Tournament...
Duke owns an all-time record of 10-17-2 in the ACC Tournament over the 17 years. The Blue Devils have advanced to the semifinals each of the past three years and 10 times in their 17 appearances.
In The Record Book...
Senior Carolyn Riggs continues to move up the Duke record charts as she owns 71 career points and 28 career goals over her four years. Her 71 points rank fifth while ranking tied for fourth in goals. With her eight shutouts so far this season, sophomore Allison Lipsher already ranks tied for second on Duke's all-time shutout list with 16. She is first on the Duke career list with a 0.86 goals against average.
Defender Carolyn Ford also ranks third with 21 career assists, while Rebecca Moros and Lauren Tippets are tied for seventh with 16.
Matchup Of Top Defenses...
With Duke and Boston College going up against each other, it will feature two of the top defenses in the league. The Blue Devils are second in the ACC with a 0.51 goals against average, while the Eagles are third with a 0.69 average. In goal, Boston College's Arianna Criscione leads the ACC with 12 shutouts, while Duke's Allison Lipsher is tied for second with eight.
Tough In Goal...
Sophomore Allison Lipsher has quickly established herself as one of the top goalkeepers in the country in just two years with the Blue Devils. On the season, Lipsher has registered eight shutouts which tied her total from a season ago and owns a 0.49 goals against average, which is on pace to shatter the Duke single season record and is first the ACC.
Lipsher has allowed only eight goals in 17 matches, while collecting 11 wins in the net.
Pride In Zeros...
Last season, the Duke defense began using the motto -- Pride in Zeros. Each defender writes this motto on their arm with a goal of not allowing any goals during the match. Last season the motto worked collecting 12 shutouts as a team and so far this season the Blue Devils have notched nine shutouts in 17 matches.
In the ACC stats, Duke is tied with North Carolina for fewest goals allowed on the season (9). The Blue Devils have allowed only one team to score more than one goal against them this season (Florida State, 2).
Duke returned all four defenders from last year -- Carolyn Ford, Heidi Hollenbeck, Rachel-Rose Cohen and Kate Seibert -- to go along with All-ACC Freshman goalkeeper Allison Lipsher.
Close Games...
Duke has played a total of 11 one-goal matches this season and owns a record of 7-4 in those contests.
Seibert Having Stellar Senior Year...
After missing the first five games due to an ankle injury, senior Kate Seibert has had a very productive final year with the Blue Devils. Seibert, a product of Downingtown, Pa., was switched from the defense to the forward position this season and has totaled three goals, four assists and 10 points. She owns two game-winning goals on the year and has started nine of the 12 matches she has played in.
She injured her ankle against South Carolina in the final exhibition contest on Aug. 20. Seibert went on to have arthroscopic surgery to remove scar tissue on Aug. 25.
Balanced Scoring...
After scoring 65 goals last season, the Blue Devils have posted only 26 goals this season, but still own 12 victories. Duke has had a very balanced scoring attack with 10 different players scoring at least one goal. On the year, Rebecca Moros, Darby Kroyer, Christie McDonald and Sarah McCabe each own a team-best four goals.
Blue Devils Lose Three For Season...
In the preseason, Head Coach Robbie Church announced that sophomore Lorraine Quinn, senior Carly O'Connor and sophomore Tara Davison will each miss the 2005 campaign.
Quinn, a native of Farmingdale, N.Y., suffered a Lis Franc injury to her left foot over the summer and had surgery on Aug. 11 to repair it. She will miss the entire season after starting all 23 contests as a freshman. In 2004, Quinn scored three goals and assisted on five others for 11 points as she was selected to the All-ACC Freshman team.
After dealing with numerous injures over her career at Duke, O'Connor has decided to become a student assistant coach for the Blue Devils in 2005. The Kentfield, Calif., native played seven matches her freshman season before being sidelined in 2002 with a torn ACL, but came back to start 22 contests on the defensive end in 2003. Last season, O'Connor dealt with an ankle injury for most of the season and only played two matches. Overall, she concludes her Blue Devil career playing in 29 matches, while starting 25.
Davison arrived at Duke for preseason practice last week but has decided to take a leave of absence from the team for the fall semester. The Kenosha, Wis., product is expected to return for spring practice and play in 2006. Last year as a freshman, Davison came off the bench to play in 10 matches.
Head Coach Robbie Church...
After leading Duke to its most wins since 1994, Robbie Church is in his fifth season as head coach of the Blue Devil women's soccer program. Church has led Duke to 41 victories and two NCAA Tournament appearances over the last three years and boasts his most experienced squad since arriving in Durham back in 2001.
The Blue Devils return 10 of 11 starters and 22 of 25 letterwinners off last year's 15-8 overall and 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) squad. Church led Duke to an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance and the five league victories was the most since 1997. For his efforts, Church was named NSCAA/adidas South Region Coach of the Year in 2005. In his five years at Duke, Church has registered a 58-38-5 record.
Church, who replaced former head coach Bill Hempen in 2001, is only the second coach in the program's 17-year history. Over the past four years, Church has brought in recruiting classes rated in the top-20 by Soccerbuzz.com- seventh in 2002, eighth in 2003 and 20th in 2004.
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