Duke Women's Soccer Hands Out Season Awards At Team Banquet On Saturday

Dec. 7, 2004

DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke Women's Soccer team held its end of the season banquet on Saturday and handed out five awards, which were voted on by the team. The Blue Devils concluded the season on Nov. 20 with a 2-0 loss at UCLA in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 and finished with a 15-8 record.

Senior Casey McCluskey took home two honors on Saturday as she was awarded the Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Offensive Player. The 5-6 native of Springfield, Va., finished with 16 goals, eight assists, 40 points and nine game-winning goals. Her 40 points tied the Duke single-season record and her 16 goals was two shy of the team mark. She was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year in 2004, while ranking second in the ACC in goals scored (16), led the ACC in points (40) and led the ACC in game-winning goals (9).

McCluskey set Duke records with two or more goals scored in four straight games, six straight games with at least one goal scored and tied the single-game record with three goals against Davidson. For her career, McCluskey finished with 40 goals and 95 points, which both rank second on Duke's all-time list. Her 15 career assists also ranks tied for seventh on the Blue Devil charts. The honor for McCluskey marks the third time she has been named to the All-Region first team and fourth year in a row she has earned All-Region honors, as she was named to the second team in 2003.

Carolyn Ford, a junior product of Bethesda, Md., picked up the Most Valuable Defensive Player on Saturday, after leading the Duke defense to 12 shutouts on the season, while starting all 23 contests. Ford collected two goals and 10 assists for 14 points on the year. Her 10 assists ranked tied for seventh in the ACC. For her career, Ford owns 19 assists which ranks fourth on Duke's all-time list. She has started all 65 games at center back since joining the Blue Devils in 2002.

Earning the Most Inspirational Award was junior Carly O'Connor, who saw action in only one contest in 2004. O'Connor, a native of Kentfield, Calif., was sidelined with a leg injury for most of the season, but was always cheering and giving support to each of her teammates from the sidelines.

The final award given out was the Rookie of the Year, which was handed to goalkeeper Allison Lipsher. A product of Honolulu, Hawaii, Lipsher arrived in August and made her presence felt immediately starting 19 of 23 contests and finishing the season with eight shutouts. Her eight shutouts ranks as the fourth-best single season output in Duke history and her 1.19 goals against average is sixth all-time.

The Blue Devils will return 10 of 11 starters and welcome another stellar recruiting class for head coach Robbie Church.

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