Duke Collects Sixth Shutout Of Season; Blanks Virginia Tech, 2-0

Thursday, September 22

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

7-0-1

Virginia Tech

4-4-1

Virginia Tech

#7/7 Duke

Duke Collects Sixth Shutout Of Season; Blanks Virginia Tech, 2-0

9/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM,N.C. ? The seventh-ranked Duke women's soccer team opened Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action on Thursday night in Durham, N.C. with a 2-0 victory over Virginia Tech at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils improved to 7-0-1 overall, 1-0 in ACC action and will next host 11th-ranked Virginia on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

The Blue Devils and Hokies battled for the first 45 minutes with only seven shots taken and no goals scored. Duke junior Sarah McCabe had the first legit scoring opportunity at the 8:25 mark after a beautiful cross from junior Lauren Tippets, but the shot was blocked by a Virginia Tech defender. Then in the 20th minute, Duke freshman Christie McDonald had a header off a corner kick but Hokie goalkeeper Mallory Soldner was able to track it down for the save.

Blue Devil senior Carmen Bognanno had Duke's final scoring opportunity of the first stanza off a corner kick by junior Darby Kroyer, but Soldner was able to post her third save of the half. At the end of the first period, Duke held a 6-1 shots and corner kick advantage.

After another energizing halftime speech by Duke Head Coach Robbie Church, the Blue Devils came out attacking from the first minute of the second half. Duke registered three shots in the first four minutes by Tippets, senior Kate Seibert and Kroyer, but two were saved by Soldner.

Virginia Tech came back and notched a shot of its own by Ashley Stinson, but the Blue Devils responded with the game-winning goal just three minutes later. Tippets started the play in the middle and sent the ball down the right side to junior Rebecca Moros, who sent a perfect cross to McCabe and was able to tap the ball in the left corner from five yards out. McCabe, a product of Sarasota, Fla., collected her team-best third goal of the season second game-winner, while Tippets added her team-best fifth assist.

Duke's defense held strong for the rest of the contest, while McDonald added her third goal of the year in the final two minutes of the match. A native of Newnan, Ga., McDonald was inserted back into the match with 10 minutes remaining and was able to break free from the Hokie defense. McDonald drove down the field and took a shot against Soldner who had a save, but McDonald grabbed the rebound and hit the left corner of the net for the goal. All this was done on a night where she battled the flu and had not practiced the last two days.

The Blue Devils notched their sixth shutout of the season and sophomore goalkeeper Allison Lipsher finished with her fifth shutout. Lipsher, a product of Honolulu, Hawaii, now owns 13 shutouts in two years which ranks fifth on Duke's all-time list. She lowered her goals against average to 0.25 on the season.

Duke outshot Virginia Tech, 22-3 for the match and held a 10-2 corner kick advantage. For the season, the Blue Devils have not outshot opponents, 149-35, and outscored teams 15-2. Virginia Tech falls to 4-4-1 overall, 0-1 in the league.

The Blue Devils will next host 11th-ranked Virginia on Sunday at 2:00 p.m., before heading off on a three-game road trip.

NOTES: Duke has outscored Virginia Tech 11-3 over the last two years ... under Head Coach Robbie Church, the Blue Devils have won the ACC opener the last two years in a row ... prior to the last two years, Duke had lost the ACC opener three straight years ... Duke improved to 2-0 against former Blue Devil All-America selection Kelly Cagle, who is the head coach of Virginia Tech ... the former Kelly Walbert, still owns Duke records for points (117) and goals (47) in a career.

- d - u - k - e -

Junior Defender Rachel-Rose Cohen:

“We defend as a team, so I don't think it's pressure just on the defense, but we have a thing called ?pride in zeros' and we just try and keep the ball out of the net. But I don't think it's any pressure. We just defend as a team, basically.”

“It starts from the pressure up top and in the midfield to not get quality serves in the back. So when you don't have quality serves coming over the top, we're able to keep people in front of us. We're actually, I think, working pretty well as a back with communication and stuff, so it starts from the top and works all the way back.”

On how the team serves the ball:
“It really depends on what type of forward, who the person is. Some people like it over the top, some people like it at their feet. And also it depends on what team we're playing, what style of defense that they're playing. So, we like to get penetrating balls so feet or, if they're spaced, over the top.”

Senior Forward Sarah McCabe:

On the six offsides penalties against Duke in the game:
“I think more so than it being their formation, it's the fact that the last three teams, three or four teams we've played, have played with a deep sweeper and we got very used to almost being lazy about our offsides because we didn't have to worry about it. There was always that person back no matter what run you made you were always onside. So it was more getting in the mindset that now you have to watch it because they're stepping up and they're trying to catch us, so you have to constantly have your body turned and watching the line. And I think it was more just getting back into that focus of watching offsides, and once we did that, second half we were fine.”

“I think that as much as it's frustrating, it's also motivating because every time that you come closer it makes you that much more hungry for the next opportunity to put that one in. It is frustrating, but at the same time it feeds on itself and it gives you the drive you need to put the next one in.”

On her game-winning goal:
“I was just running as hard as I could. It was an absolutely perfect ball from Rebecca [Moros]. It bent right into my path and I just had my foot as far out as it could go, so it wasn't really by positioning, it was just a great ball.”

Head Coach Robbie Church:

“What we want to do is be at the top of the league, and some other people may come and join us, but that's okay. That first win is always very, very important, especially this year because not everybody is going to the ACC Tournament. The top eight out of 11 teams are going, so every win is big in our league because there are going to be three teams and three good teams that may not go to the tournament.”

“I thought the first half, we didn't play poorly, but we didn't play well enough to win the game. They were beating us in the air in the midfield ... We were creating opportunities, but we weren't creating great opportunities. I thought I had to challenge them about our work rate. I thought our work rate had to be better, and it was much better in the second half. I was worried this game because I know Virginia Tech is better than they were last year. Last year we beat them bad, and it was one of those days that everything we shot went in, but I thought our girls were very mature how they approached this game and I thought they turned it up when we needed to be very competitive.”

“Last week we threw water bottles at halftime at the UAB game. Today we just were much more calm and we just talked through some things ... We're a very competitive team. We have very competitive young ladies. They want to do really well. And so I think they knew they were playing well, but I think they knew they could play better.”

“The first goal is always big. It's always big, but I was never fully relieved until the second goal went in and the clock was running out, both in that combination. Again, I've got a lot of respect for them. I thought they were dangerous on counters. I thought we were going to get the second one, but your tactics change when you get the first goal. Our tactics changed and their tactics changed and because their tactics changed, we got a lot of good opportunities. We could start pushing numbers forward and it led to the second goal. That's what happens. If it had been 0-0, then we wouldn't have had all those opportunities in the second half.”

“It puts us at the top of the standings. Today all we could do was be 1-0 in the league. It's always nice to be at the top, have people look up at you in the standings over there. There were a couple more games today and some teams may come join us, but that's what our goal was, to be 1-0.”