Women's Soccer To Face Virginia In NCAA Sweet 16 Match On Saturday

11/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ?? The 2008 NCAA College Cup will resume play this weekend as the 15th-ranked and third-seeded Duke women's soccer team (14-5-3, 4-3-3 ACC) meets Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foe, ninth-ranked and second-seeded Virginia (15-4-3, 6-3-1) on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 7:00 p.m., at Kl?ckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. This Sweet Sixteen matchup will be a fight to survive as both clubs look to make returns to the Elite Eight.

Duke In the NCAA College Cup
In earning an at-large berth into the NCAA College Cup, the Blue Devils have reached the big show for the sixth straight season and 15 overall times. Just a season ago, the Blue Devils dispatched South Carolina, Georgia, and Indiana en route to a place in the Elite Eight before falling to perennial powerhouse Notre Dame, 3-2. Duke has won at least one contest in the tournament in each of its last seven appearances. The only time Duke has reached the NCAA Championship game was back in 1992. All time, the Blue Devils hold a record of 18-14 in the NCAA College Cup. In this year's tournament, Duke has already registered two wins; one against Radford (5-1) and another against William & Mary (1-0), both in subregional action held at Koskinen Stadium.

A Look at the Opponent
The Virginia Cavilers enter play with an overall record similar to the Blue Devils at 15-4-3 and a 6-3-1 mark in the highly competitive ACC (the ACC boasts five out of 16 teams remaining in the tournament). Virginia reached the Sweet Sixteen by defeating Army in the opening round (2-0) and then by holding off a late rally in a nail-biter against the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-2). In this most recent match, Virginia was carried by goals from Alli Fries, Maggie Kistner, and Lauren Alwine. Notably, Alwine also contributed her school record-tying 14th assist on the season on a corner kick in the seventh minute of the match. Virginia has been a scoring machine this season, totaling 51 goals and outshooting all opponents by a margin of 403-114. The offense is powered by Meghan Lenczyk (11 goals, 1 assist) and Lauren Alwine (6 goals, 14 assists. The defense is allowing just one goal per game and is anchored by senior net-minder Celeste Miles who has posted nine shutouts on the season. Virginia has been particularly difficult to beat this season when playing at home, posting a record of 9-2-1. This will be head coach Steve Swanson's ninth season as the Virginia head coach, leading the Cavilers to an NCAA appearance in each of the nine seasons.

The Series
Virginia holds a slim advantage in all-time match ups between the teams (12-10-6), however, Duke has the upper hand in NCAA meetings (3-0). During the regular season the Blue Devils and Cavaliers battled to a 0-0 tie in two overtimes. In the contest, Virginia outshot Duke 22-6, which tied for the fewest shots taken in a game this season for the Blue Devils. The last time these teams met in the NCAA College Cup was in 2004, a match which the Blue Devils won by a score of 3-0. Lorraine Quinn is the only current Blue Devil who played in that game and will play again in this year's matchup.

Last Game
Duke is coming off a second round victory against the NCAA College Cup CAA representative, William & Mary, by a score of 1-0. The Blue Devils outshot the Tribe 18-4 but were still able to only net one goal, courtesy of KayAnne Gummersall in the eighth minute. Cassidy Powers recorded three saves in the contest and in the process notched her eighth shutout on the season.

In The Rankings
In the rankings, Duke is 15th in the Soccer Buzz, 22nd in the Soccer America and 17th in the SoccerTimes.com and 18th in the NSCAA/adidas polls. Virginia is ranked ninth by Soccer Buzz, 11th in the NSCAA, 12th by SoccerTimes.com and 16th in the Soccer America polls.

In The ACC Stats
Duke rebounded from its recent scoring slump and continues to rank in the top third of most categories within the ACC -- points (4th, 150), goals (t-3rd, 51), assists (4th, 48), and shutouts (4th, 12). As for individual stats, Elisabeth Redmond ranks third in shots (70), tied for eighth in points (26), tied for sixth in goals (11), and shares fifth place in the category of game-winning goals (5). KayAnne Gummersall ranks fourth in points (30), third in points per game (1.36), and fourth in goals (13). Goalkeeper Cassidy Powers is sixth in saves (67), fifth in shutouts (8) and third in goals-against average (0.84).

High Scoring Offense
Duke opened the season with a school-record 17 goals over the first four contests and has totaled 51 tallies over 22 matches. Last year, Duke registered 34 goals in 23 games and in 2006 the Blue Devils scored 29 goals in 21 matches. The Blue Devils tied a school-record to open the season with nine goals in a win over Coastal Carolina and their 51 goals on the season are fifth most in single season Duke history. Duke's scoring offense of 2.32 goals per game currently ranks 18th nationally and the Blue Devils have posted a 343-217 shot advantage on the season. The Blue Devils own a 0.545 shutouts per game average which ranks tied for 23rd nationally. All NCAA stats are through games of 11/09.

Duke has notched 10 matches with three or more goals in 2008, as compared to four all of last year. In the match against Dayton, Duke registered three goals in a span of three minutes and 52 seconds, which was the fifth-quickest interval for three goals in Duke women's soccer history.

Stellar Defense
The strong Duke defense which closed out the regular season carried over into the NCAA College Cup. The Blue Devils have allowed just three goals over the course of the last seven games, shutting out opponents in four of these contests.

In The NCAA Stats
Of all teams in Division I women's soccer, Duke ranks 18th and 23rd in scoring offense and shutout percentage, respectively. Cassidy Powers is 56th among all goalkeepers with a 0.842 goals-against average while KayAnne Gummersall is 51st in goals per game (0.591). Virginia boasts similar offensive rankings: 18th in scoring offense (2.32), 24th in win-lost-tied percentage (0.75) and Lauren Alwine is eighth nationwide in assists per game (0.64).

Spread The Wealth
A total of 12 Blue Devils have scored at least one goal this season, while 17 student-athletes have posted one or more assists.

Honors
KayAnne Gummersall was named to the Team of the Season (3rd team) by TopDrawerSoccer.com while freshmen Ashley Rape and Cody Newman were both named Rookies of the Season (2nd team).

Injury Update
The Blue Devils have been without junior defender Sara Murphy, freshman Molly Mack and freshman Sonja Sahlsten for the entirety of the regular season and will be without them for the 2008 NCAA College Cup due to season-ending injuries. Freshman Ashley Rape tore her ACL prior to the Miami contest on Oct. 23 and will miss the rest of the season.

The Record Book
After the first two rounds of the NCAA College Cup, Elisabeth Redmond now holds 67 points on her career. Her point total ranks seventh all-time and is just one point shy of Caitlin Connolly's total for sixth. Redmond also owns 23 assists, and ranks tied for second on Duke's all-time assist charts along with Kelly Walbert. Her 11 regular season goals are a career best and eighth on Duke's single-season scoring list. KayAnne Gummersall's 13 goals on the season is tied for the sixth most in single-season school history and her eight game-winning goals are sixth all-time. Gummersall also has recorded a total of 30 points this season which is sixth all-time.

The tandem of Gummersall and Redmond are the most prolific scoring duo in single season school history with 24 goals between them in 2008.

The Head Coach
Robbie Church is in his eighth season with the Blue Devils and owns an overall record of 93-59-19 mark at Duke. His overall record as head coach for men and women is 276-173-33 in 23 years, while his overall record as women's head coach is 180-108-30 in 15 years.

The Captains
Blue Devil seniors Kelly Hathorn and Kelly McCann are the co-captains for the 2008

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