Duke Faces Wake Forest in College Cup on Friday

11/30/2011 12:07:00 PM | Women's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

#7 Wake Forest (18-3-4) vs. #3 Duke (21-3-1)
NCAA College Cup - Semifinals
Friday, Dec. 2 l 7:30 PM l ESPN3
Kennesaw, Ga. l KSU Soccer Stadium

Watch Live l Live Blog l Live Stats l Twitter: @Duke_WSOC

Duke Set for Semifinal Appearance in NCAA College Cup on Friday...
The third-ranked Duke women's soccer team (21-3-1) will make its second appearance in the NCAA College Cup on Friday, Dec. 2 as the top-seeded Blue Devils will take on No. 1 seed and seventh-ranked Wake Forest (18-3-4) live on ESPN3 at the KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga. The Duke/WFU match will also be aired via tape-delay on ESPNU on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 11:00 a.m.

In the other semifinal contest, Stanford and Florida State will kick at 5:00 p.m., on ESPNU and ESPN3. The winners of both matches will play in the championship game on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 1:00 p.m., live on ESPNU and ESPN3.

Duke is currently ranked fifth in the Soccer America poll and third in the NSCAA ledger, while Wake Forest is seventh by Soccer America and sixth by the NSCAA.

The Blue Devils last appeared in the NCAA College Cup in 1992 as Duke defeated Hartford, 1-0, in the semifinals and then fell to North Carolina (9-1) in the finals under head coach Bill Hempen.

How We Got Here...
After receiving a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, the Blue Devils took advantage of playing at home in Koskinen Stadium over the last four matches. Duke cruised to an opening round victory over Radford, 5-0, led by two first half goals by Kaitlyn Kerr. The five goals were a school record in NCAA Tournament action. In the second round, the Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute off an own-goal by Georgia. Duke came out in the second half and notched two goals in a span of seven minutes to take a 3-0 lead, but Georgia added a tally in the 82nd minute.

In the third round, the Blue Devils fell behind for only the sixth time this season as Ohio State registered a goal in the 29th minute and went into halftime down 1-0. Kelly Cobb tied the match in the 54th minute and Kerr registered the game-winner in the 81st minute to push the Blue Devils into the quarterfinals for only the fourth time in school history. Nicole Lipp added two assists in the match.

Going up against a Long Beach State squad in the quarterfinals that had not allowed a goal in the NCAA Tournament, Duke took a 0-0 ledger into the half before notching goals in the 67th and 74th minutes to head to the College Cup. Kim DeCesare and Gilda Doria scored the goals for the Blue Devils.

The Series With Wake Forest...
Duke and Wake Forest will meet for the 24th time in school history with the Blue Devils leading the overall series, 13-7-3. In neutral site contests, Duke owns a 1-3-1 mark versus WFU. Earlier this season, the Blue Devils downed the Demon Deacons, 2-0, behind two goals from sophomore Laura Weinberg on Oct. 20 and then dropped a 2-1 decision in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

The Blue Devils and Demon Deacons will go up against each other in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

A Look at Wake Forest...
Wake Forest enters the match with an 18-3-4 overall mark. Katie Stengel (19 goals) and Rachel Nuzzolese (11 goals) lead Wake Forest on the season. The Demon Deacons own a seven-match unbeaten streak with a tie to Florida State in the ACC Championship the only blemish. Wake Forest has outscored opponents 11-2 in the NCAA Tournament.

Duke in the NCAA Tournament...
By earning a No. 1 seed and an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils reached the big show for the ninth straight season and the 18th time in school history. With a first round win, Duke has won at least one contest in the tournament in nine out of the last 10 years. The No. 1 seed is a first for Blue Devil soccer as the previous highest seed for Duke was third in 2008.

The Blue Devils hold an overall record of 25-17 (10-2 at home) in tournament play, and made it to the third round last season, losing 0-2 at Oklahoma State. Duke is three years removed from back-to-back NCAA Quarterfinals appearances (2007 and 2008). In 2008, the Blue Devils lost to No. 2 seed UCLA in the quarterfinals.

With Duke's victory over Ohio State, the Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for only the fourth time in school history (1992, 2007, 2008) and hosted an Elite Eight match for the first time in school history.

Noting Duke...
• Duke's top four scorers are either freshmen or sophomores -- freshman Kelly Cobb (30 points), sophomore Kaitlyn Kerr (25 points), sophomore Laura Weinberg (19 points) and sophomore Mollie Pathman (19 points).
• The Blue Devils will feature a starting lineup against Wake Forest that has no seniors.
• Duke will face Wake Forest for the third time this season on Friday, which marks the fourth time in school history that Duke will go up against an opponent three times in a year -- Clemson (2000), North Carolina (1994, 1992).
• With Gilda Doria scoring against Long Beach State, a total of 13 Blue Devils have registered a tally this season. The goal for Doria was the first of her career.
• Of Duke's 51 goals scored this season, 32 have come in the second half.
• Sophomore Kaitlyn Kerr owns four goals over her final four contests, including two game-winners.
• Freshman Kelly Cobb posted the first postseason goal of her career against Ohio State and now owns Duke's single-season goals mark by a freshman with 11 tallies.
• The Blue Devils improved to 2-3 all-time record in the quarterfinals and snapped a three-game losing streak. This will be the first quarterfinals match to ever be played at home for Duke. The only win in the NCAA Quarterfinals was in 1992 at Virginia (2-0).
• Duke allowed goals in back-to-back games versus Ohio State and Georgia for only the second time this year.
• After opening her career with eight goals in the first 11 matches, freshman Kelly Cobb has been limited to three goals in the last 13 contests.                                                                                                                                                                           • Junior Nicole Lipp tallied two assists in the Ohio State win, which was a single-game career high. She owns four assists on the season.
• With Duke's victory against Ohio State, the Blue Devils reached 20 wins, marking only the third program in the ACC to notch 20 wins in a season -- North Carolina (21 times), Florida State (once in 2005 - 20).
• For only the third time in school history, the Blue Devils have three players with eight or more goals scored in a season (1989, 2002).
• Duke's 12 goals in the 2011 NCAA Tournament are the most by any Blue Devil squad in the postseason.
• Duke's 11 goals allowed on the season are four fewer than the next team (Boston College - 15), while playing four more games. The three goals allowed in ACC regular season play were the fewest in the league since North Carolina allowed three in 2003. Duke's two goals allowed against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament matched a season-high (Texas A&M).
• With three first half goals against Radford, Duke tied a season-high (College of Charleston).
• With her tally against Ohio State on Nov. 20, Kaitlyn Kerr owns six game-winning goals this season and three against ACC foes (all were 1-0 games). Kerr is now tied for third in the ACC in game-winning goals with freshman Kelly Cobb (6). The two are tied for 15th nationally in game-winning goals.
• The Blue Devils scored three second half goals against Maryland matching a season-high (Texas A&M and Notre Dame). Over the last nine matches, Duke has scored 15 second half goals.
• The Blue Devils had their streak of 558:16 minutes without allowing a goal snapped at North Carolina. Duke has only allowed six goals over the last 16 matches.
• Duke has scored three goals off corner kicks this season.
• Since Natasha Anasi replaced Ashley Rape in the lineup due to injury, Duke has allowed only 10 goals in 21 matches.
• Duke entered the NCAA Tournament with the No. 1 RPI in the nation.
• Over the last 17 games, the Blue Devils outscored their opponents 35-9.
• The Blue Devils are 8-2-1 this season against ranked opponents with wins over No. 24 Long Beach State, No. 21 South Carolina, No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 6 Florida State, No. 5 Boston College, No. 3 Wake Forest , No. 15 Maryland, No. 25 Virginia Tech-- tied No. 7 Virginia (0-0, 2 OT).
• The victory over a No. 1 ranked opponent (Notre Dame) was the first since a 2005 win at top-ranked North Carolina.
• Duke starting forwards Kelly Cobb, Mollie Pathman and Laura Weinberg have scored 23 of the Blue Devils' 51 goals.
• The Blue Devils have trailed in only six matches this season -- Notre Dame (0-1, 37:43), Auburn (0-1, 28:88), North Carolina (0-1, 2:45), Maryland (0-1, 49:56), Wake Forest (0-1, 63:50), Ohio State (0-1, 25:20) -- for a total of 207:42.
• Kelly Cobb became the 13th Blue Devil to register a goal in her first collegiate start and the fifth to post goals in her first two starts.
• Senior Chelsea Canepa has scored three goals this season, the first two coming against nationally-ranked opponents -- Notre Dame and Florida State -- and the third coming in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Stone Walls...
Blue Devil defenders Libby Jandl and Natasha Anasi have been stellar this season for Duke helping post 16 shutouts. The duo has played the most minutes on the team -- Jandl (2,197) and Anasi (2,159) -- out of a total of 2,270 minutes on the year.

Heading Back Home...
Redshirt senior Molly Lester will head back to her home state of Georgia to close out her collegiate career at the NCAA College Cup in Kennesaw, Ga. Lester, a product of Atlanta, Ga., attended The Lovett School and lives about 30 minutes from Kennesaw.

Lester is in her fifth year with the Blue Devils after missing two seasons with injuries. She has scored six goals, had seven assists and totaled 19 points over the last two years.

Overbeck Returns to College Cup...
Duke assistant coach Carla Overbeck will return to the NCAA College Cup for the first time since the 1992 season with the Blue Devils. An assistant coach under Bill Hempen in 1992, Overbeck helped lead Duke to a 17-5-2 overall record and an appearance in the NCAA Championship match.

Hey, I Know You!...
Junior Tara Campbell and sophomore Mollie Pathman will each go up against one of their best friends on Friday against Wake Forest.

Campbell and Ally Berry are from Cincinnati, Ohio and are best friends. They played on the same club teams -- Cardinals and Ohio Elite -- growing up, talk all the time at school and spend time together when at home. Campbell played against Aubrey Bledsoe and with her twin sister, Amber, who is now a goalkeeper at Brown.

Pathman is good friends with Kelsey Zalimeni. They went to high school at Durham Academy together for two years and played club for Triangle FC for nine years. Zalimeni is one of Pathman's best friends and she even lived with the Pathman family for some of the time she went to Durham Academy.

Pathman Assisting the Blue Devils...
Sophomore Mollie Pathman now owns an ACC-best 11 assists on the season. In the NCAA Tournament, Pathman has assisted on goals in three of the four matches. Pathman, who is a native of Durham, N.C., has assisted on goals in six out of the last nine matches. She has assisted on eight game-winning tallies for the Blue Devils. Pathman owns 16 assists in two seasons.

Talented Sophomores...
Duke's sophomores have been huge this season registering 30 goals and 30 assists -- Natasha Anasi (1G, 1A), Kim DeCesare (4G, 1A), Gilda Doria (1G, 3A), Kaitlyn Kerr (10G, 5A), Mollie Pathman (4G, 11A), Callie Simpkins (2G, 2A), Alex Straton (0G, 4A), Avery Rape (0G, 0A) and Laura Weinberg (8G, 3A).

Over two years, the sophomores have accumulated 59 goals and 45 assists.

Scoring in the NCAAs...
Duke now boasts eight players who have scored goals in the NCAA Tournament -- Kaitlyn Kerr (5), Laura Weinberg (2), Kim DeCesare, Gilda Doria, Katie Trees, Callie Simpkins, Chelsea Canepa, and Kelly Cobb. Prior to the match against Radford, the Blue Devils had registered only two goals over the last four NCAA Tournament contests, while being shutout in three matches. Those two goals came against California last year in the NCAA First Round.

Kerr is already tied for Duke's all-time lead for goals in the NCAA Tournament with five --

Duke All-Time NCAA Scoring
5, Kaitlyn Kerr (2010-present)
5, KayAnne Gummersall (2006-09)
4, Sarah McCabe (2003-06)
4, Katherine Remy (1992-95)
2, Six tied

Duke All-Time NCAA Assists
3, Mollie Pathman (2010-present)
3, Caitlin Connolly (1989-92)
3, CJ Ludemann (2006-07)
3, Lorraine Quinn (2004, 06-08)
3, Kate Siebert (2002-05)
2, Eight tied

Undefeated Home Season...
The Blue Devils closed their 2011 campaign with an undefeated 14-0-1 home record. The 14 home wins in 2011 are an all-time high, breaking the previous high of nine (1992). The Blue Devils have completed an undefeated home slate only twice before (1992 (4-0-2), 1994 (8-0)). Duke also owns a 10-2 home record in the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Tournament Stats...
As a team, Duke's 36 points in the four NCAA Tournament games ranks second to Oklahoma State (37). The 12 goals scored by the Blue Devils is a tied for team-best along with Oklahoma State. Wake Forest is second at 11, while Florida State and North Carolina scored 10.

In the individual rankings, Kaitlyn Kerr is listed in the points (T4th, 8), points per game (T8, 2.0), goals (T2nd, 4), goals per game (T5, 1.0) and game-winning goals (T5th, 2). Mollie Pathman is tied for second in assists (3). In the shots category, Laura Weinberg is sixth (17) and Kelly Cobb is tied seventh (16).