Duke To Face Fairfield In NCAA Tournament On Friday

11/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

Duke To Face Fairfield In NCAA Tournament On Friday...

Duke will make its 12th appearance in the NCAA College Cup on Friday as the Blue Devils will face Fairfield in New Haven, Conn., at the Yale Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium at 4:00 p.m. The winner of the match will advance to the second round to take on Yale/Central Connecticut State on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

In The Rankings...

In the latest rankings, Blue Devils are 11th in the Soccer America poll, while being ranked ninth by SoccerTimes.com, ninth by Soccer Buzz and 10th by the NSCAA. Yale is ranked 25th in Soccer America, 22nd in the NSCAA and 23rd in the Soccer Buzz listings.

The Series...

Duke has never faced Fairfield or Central Connecticut State, but owns a 1-0 record against Yale with the victory coming earlier this season in the Nike Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Blue Devils defeated Yale, 1-0, in the second match of the season.

Duke In the NCAA Tournament...

Duke is making its 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and is coming off advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 last year, which marked the first time since 1996 the Blue Devils had advanced past the second round of the tournament. Duke had lost seven straight contests in the second round before knocking off third-ranked Virginia, 3-0, last season. In its first NCAA appearance in 1992, Duke advanced to the NCAA Championship game, but lost to North Carolina (9-1).

A Look At The Opponents...

Fairfield, who won the MAAC Tournament to earn a berth in the College Cup, owns a 10-6-3 overall record and is led by Alex Caram with five goals and six assists on the year.

On the other side of the draw is host Yale (13-3-1) and Central Connecticut (17-3). The Bulldogs will be making their third NCAA Tournament appearance, but will be hosting for the first time. Yale owns one of the top defenses in the nation allowing only 10 goals in 17 matches.

Central Connecticut earned its fourth straight Northeast Conference Tournament Championship with a 1-0 win over Long Island this past Sunday and is led by Jessica McCavanagh with 10 goals and two assists on the year.

Earlier This Year Versus Yale...

In the second match of the season, then 12th-ranked Duke registered a goal by Darby Kroyer in the 37th minute to go on to defeat Yale on the second day of the Nike Carolina Classic hosted by North Carolina.

Blue Devil goalkeeper Allison Lipsher faced only four shots the entire match, none of which were on goal. Duke outshot the Bulldogs 17-4.

Trio Of Blue Devils Named Academic All-District III...

Senior Carolyn Ford, senior Carmen Bognanno and junior Rachel-Rose Cohen of the Duke University Women's Soccer team were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III squad on Thursday, which was selected in a vote by the College Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA). Cohen was named to the first team and will now move on to the national ballot to be selected for Academic All-America, while Ford earned second team and Bognanno earned third team accolades.

NCAA Tournament Experience...

After going into the 2003 NCAA Tournament with only six experienced postseason players, the 2005 Duke squad boasts 22 letterwinners who were a part of the three NCAA Tournament contests from a year ago.

Head Coach Robbie Church will be taking his fourth Duke team to the NCAA Tournament and fifth overall team to the postseason (Charlotte in 1998). In 1998, Charlotte advanced past the first round by defeating South Carolina, 2-0, but lost to North Carolina, 6-0, in the next round.

Kroyer Named to All-ACC Tournament Team...

After netting the game-winning goal against Boston College and Duke's lone goal against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament, junior Darby Kroyer earned All-ACC Tournament accolades on Sunday. Kroyer now leads the Blue Devils with six goals on the season to go along with 14 points. She has scored in four of the last seven contests for Duke.

Ford Earns Top Honor; Four Blue Devils Named All-ACC ...

Senior Carolyn Ford was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, while junior Rebecca Moros, junior Darby Kroyer and freshman Christie McDonald were selected All-ACC on Wednesday by a vote of the league head coaches.

Ford was also named first team All-ACC along with Moros, while Kroyer was selected to the second team and McDonald earned All-ACC Freshman accolades.

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, Kate Seibert and Rebecca Moros are tied for sixth, while Lauren Tippets is tied for ninth with 16.

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 nine shutouts, which is a career-best, and owns a 0.55 goals against average, which is on pace to shatter the Duke single season record and is first the ACC. Her goals against average also ranked second in the ACC.

Lipsher has allowed only 10 goals in 19 matches, while collecting 12 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. In 2004, the motto worked collecting 12 shutouts as a team and so far this season the Blue Devils have notched 10 shutouts in 19 matches.

In the ACC stats, Duke leads in fewest goals allowed on the season (11). The Blue Devils have allowed only two teams to score more than one goal against them this season (Florida State & North Carolina, 2).

Entering the NCAA Tournament, the Duke defense is on pace to set a school record for fewest goals allowed and lowest goals against average. The Blue Devils have allowed 11 goals and have a 0.56 goals against average. The school record is 13 goals and 0.74 GAA back in the inaugural year of Duke soccer in 1988.

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 12 one-goal matches this season and owns a record of 7-5 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, six assists and 12 points. She owns two game-winning goals on the year and has started 11 of the 14 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 29 goals this season, but still own 13 victories. Duke has had a very balanced scoring attack with 10 different players scoring at least one goal. On the year, Darby Kroyer leads the Blue Devils with career-best six goals.

In The NCAA Stats...

In the latest NCAA stats, Duke is 11th in goals against average (0.56) and Allison Lipsher is 14th with a 0.545 goals against average. Yale is 15th in the nation with a 0.578 goals against average, while goalkeeper Chloe Beizer is 12th with a 0.526 GAA.