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Duke & Notre Dame To Battle For Final Four Bid On Friday
11/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
NOTRE DAME, IND. ? Looking to advance to the NCAA College Cup Final Four for the first time since 1992, the Duke women's soccer team (10-5-7) will travel to Notre Dame, Ind., on Friday, Nov. 30 for a 7:00 p.m., match against 11th-ranked Notre Dame (18-4-2) at Alumni Field. Notre Dame will provide free audio and video at und.com, via Irish All-Access.
Duke enters the match with a 10-5-7 overall record, while Notre Dame is 18-4-2. The Blue Devils knocked out 23rd-ranked South Carolina, 1-1 (4-1 in penalty kicks), Georgia, 1-0, and Indiana, 2-0, to advance to their first NCAA College Cup Elite Eight since 1994.
Notre Dame registered a 3-0 win over Loyola Chicago, knocked off Ilinois, 2-0, and registered a 3-2 win at top-seeded North Carolina to advance to the Elite Eight. The Irish have outscored their opponents 8-2 over the three NCAA College Cup matches this year. In 13 matches at home this season, Notre Dame has posted a 10-2-1 record. Notre Dame is ranked 11th in the NSCAA, 12th in the Soccer Buzz and 16th in the Soccer America polls.
Duke and Notre Dame have met a total of 10 times in school history with the Irish leading the series 6-3-1. The last meeting between the two squads came on Sept. 5, 1999 with Notre Dame winning, 4-1, in Notre Dame, Ind. A total of three contests between Duke and Notre Dame have been played at Alumni Field with the Blue Devils earning a 2-1 victory in 1992 and the Irish winning 5-0 in 1997. Notre Dame owns a 25-13 scoring margin in the overall series. Only Duke and North Carolina from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) have ever totaled a win or tie at Notre Dame.
The Duke/Notre Dame winner will next play in the NCAA College Cup semifinals against winner of the Florida State/Connecticut winner. The match would take place on Dec. 7 at the Aggie Soccer Complex on the campus of Texas A&M. Game times are 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. (Central) and will be broadcasted on ESPN2 and/or ESPNU.
While Duke is making its first appearance in the NCAA College Cup Elite Eight, Notre Dame has advanced to the Final Four in two out of the last three years. The Irish were National Champions in 2004 and the 2006 squad was the runner-up to North Carolina.
The Blue Devils are making their 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight on three different occasions -- 1992, 1994 and 2007. The Blue Devils are making their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA College Cup and have won at least one contest in the tournament each of the last eight appearances.
Duke's last presence in the Elite Eight was in 1994 as the Blue Devils fell to North Carolina by a 3-1 score. The Blue Devils first year in Division I women's soccer in 1992, Duke advanced to the NCAA Championship before falling to North Carolina.
As a team, Duke has registered five players who have scored four or more goals this season -- sophomore Elisabeth Redmond (8 goals, 11 assists), junior Kelly Hathorn (5 goals, 5 assists), sophomore CJ Ludemann (4 goals, 7 assists), freshman Rebecca Allen (5 goals, 2 assists) and junior Lorraine Quinn (4 goals, 3 assists).
Redmond, a second team All-ACC selection, owns a team-best 11 assists and eight goals for a total of 27 points. A native of Morristown, N.J., Redmond has registered four game-winning goals and notched eight assists on goals that have tied or been the game-winning goals of matches this season. She has collected goals in the last two matches in the NCAA College Cup.
Sophomore KayAnne Gummersall notched the game-winning goal at Indiana on Sunday, after missing most of the season with an injured ankle. Gummersall, a product of Wilmette, Ill., was injured in the San Francisco match on Sept. 21 and has seen limited action all year, after leading Duke in scoring as a freshman with seven goals. The tally on Sunday at Indiana was Gummersall's first goal of the season.
Senior goalkeeper Allison Lipsher will be making her 11th career start in the NCAA College Cup. She is coming off notching her 33rd career shutout on Sunday against Indiana. Lipsher is only one shutout away from tying the Duke career mark held by Melissa Carr, who played from 1992-95. Lipsher is also two shutouts shy of matching the ACC career mark held by Aly Winget (35) of UNC.
A product of Honolulu, Hawaii, Lipsher has allowed only one goal in the tournament over the last 510 minutes the last two years. She has totaled seven shutouts and a 0.75 goals against average in 2007.
Duke is one of two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams still remaining in the NCAA College Cup -- Florida State. With top-seeded North Carolina getting knocked out, it marks the first time in school history the Blue Devils have advanced farther than the Tar Heels in the NCAA College Cup. In 1992 and 1994, Duke advanced to the National Championship match and the Elite Eight, respectively, but were knocked out by North Carolina.
Other Elite Eight matches include Connecticut at Florida State, UCLA at Portland, Southern California at West Virginia. All matches will take place on Friday, Nov. 30.
Tickets for the game will be available at Alumni Field on the campus of Notre Dame. The price is $7 for adults and $3 for children and students with a valid I.D. The NCAA Division I College Cup will be played Dec. 7 and 9 at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas.
Notebook:
? Duke and Connecticut are the only unranked teams remaining in the 2007 NCAA College Cup by the Soccer America poll.
? With the Blue Devils reaching the 10-win plateau, Duke has posted double-figure wins 15th time in school history over the 20 years in women's soccer. Head Coach Robbie Church has guided Duke to 10-win seasons in four out of the last five years.
? Senior goalkeeper Allison Lipsher has totaled five career shutouts in NCAA Tournament action -- Indiana and Georgia in 2007, Louisville and Tennessee in 2006 and Virginia in 2004. She did not allow a goal in the 2006 NCAA College Cup in 220 minutes.
? If Duke could post three more wins and bring home the National Championship, the Blue Devils would tie a school record for the fewest losses in a season (5). Duke lost five games in 1992 and 1994, which were the only other years the Blue Devils advanced to the Elite Eight.
? Over the last five NCAA College Cup matches Duke has played, the Blue Devils have only allowed one goal.
? The Blue Devils have played nine overtime matches this season, including five out of the last nine contests. Duke is 1-1-7 in overtime matches this year.
? Duke played three straight ties in the NCAA Tournament prior to the Georgia contest, while winning two of the three. Overall the Blue Devils have advanced to penalty kicks on four occasions in the NCAA College Cup.
? With Duke scoring first against South Carolina, it broke a seven-match streak of a Blue Devil opponent scoring first and Duke having to come from behind. In the three NCAA College Cup matches this season, the Blue Devils have got on the board first.
? In the latest ACC stats, Elisabeth Redmond ranks sixth in points (27), fifth in points per game (1.23), tied for seventh in goals (8), ninth in goals per game (0.36), second in assists (11), second in assists per game (0.52),
? Freshman Maeghan FitzGerald nailed the clinching penalty kick against South Carolina. It was the first time FitzGerald has scored a goal all season as she had not taken a shot all year. FitzGerald then started against Georgia and played the entire 90 minutes in the backfield.
? Sophomore Sara Murphy missed her first game this season against Georgia with an ankle sprain. She played limited minutes versus South Carolina and had started 20 straight matches this season on the defensive end. Murphy did not play at Indiana and is listed as day-to-day for the Notre Dame match. Freshman Maeghan FitzGerald started in place of Murphy.
? With Duke registering so many ties this season, Head Coach Robbie Church had the team start practicing penalty kicks much earlier in the season than normal. The practice helped against South Carolina winning 4-1 on penalty kicks.
? The Duke goal against South Carolina by Lorraine Quinn broke a scoreless streak in NCAA Tournament action that spanned 3:22.15. Prior to Quinn's tally, the last time Duke had put the ball in the net was against Yale in the 2005 NCAA Tournament off the foot by Darby Kroyer.
? The Blue Devils have posted a 3-2-3 overall record in true road matches this season.
? Duke has registered seven ties this season which matches the single season record set in 2002.
? Sophomore Elisabeth Redmond has totaled 11 assists on the season, which is tied for second on the all-time single season chart at Duke. Redmond has also notched a team-best three game-winning goals, while also posting eight assists on goals that have tied the match or goals that were game-winning.
? The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) office released the 2007 All-ACC squads on Nov. 6 with three Blue Devils earning accolades. Junior Lorraine Quinn and sophomore Elisabeth Redmond were named to the All-ACC first and second teams, respectively, while Rebecca Allen was selected to the All-Freshman team by a vote of the league head coaches.
? Sophomore KayAnne Gummersall continues to be hobbled with an ankle injury that occurred earlier this season. Duke's leading goal scorer from a year ago with seven goals has scored her first goal of the season at Indiana and has totaled one assist. She missed three matches in October but has played the last six contests. She is still not 100 percent healthy and will not be until after the season is over. Gummersall played only 33 minutes against South Carolina, 10 minutes versus Georgia and 32 minutes at Indiana.
? A total of 11 Blue Devils have scored at least one goal this season, while 15 Blue Devils have posted one or more assists.
? In the NCAA stats, Duke ranks 34th in goals-against average (0.757), 48th in save percentage (0.838), 89th in shutout percentage (0.409) and 85th in won-lost-tied percentage (0.614). In the individual categories, Elisabeth Redmond ranks 18th in assists per game (0.50), while Allison Lipsher is 45th in goals-against average (0.749) and 55th in save percentage (0.835). Notre Dame ranks 14th in scoring offense (2.54), 10th in won-lost-tied percentage (0.792), 41st in shutout percentage (0.50) and 83rd in goals-against average (0.936). In the individual categories, Kerri Hanks (12th) and Brittany Bock (35th) are ranked in points per game with a 1.83 and 1.5 per game average, respectively. Bock is 23rd (0.682) and Hanks is 68th (0.542) in goals per game. Hanks is also listed in assists per game at third with 0.75 and goalkeeper Lauren Karas is 24th with a 0.643 goals-against average.
? Duke has only lost five matches this season and all five came against ranked opponents-- second-ranked Texas A&M (2-0), fourth-ranked Virginia (2-0), 12th-ranked North Carolina (2-1), 25th-ranked Clemson (1-0), 11th-ranked Wake Forest (1-0).
? The Blue Devil defense has not allowed more than two goals in any matches this season.
? Junior's Christie McDonald and Lorraine Quinn along with sophomore's Elisabeth Redmond and KayAnne Gummersall are the only current Blue Devils who has scored a goal in the NCAA College Cup. McDonald totaled the fourth and final goal against Fairfield in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Quinn scored against South Carolina in 2007, Gummersall scored at Indiana and Redmond scored versus Georgia and Indiana.
? Duke has graduated 17 seniors over the last two years and has only one senior that plays significant action.
? Head Coach Robbie Church is taking his sixth Duke team to the NCAA Tournament and seventh 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.
? Kelly Hathorn and Christie McDonald were named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III recently. Hathorn earned second team honors, while McDonald was named to the third team.
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