Blue Devils Blank Tigers; Notch Third Straight Shutout

Sunday, October 18

Clemson, S.C.

2:00 p.m.

Duke University

6-5-4, 2-2-2ACC

Clemson

3-12, 0-7ACC

Duke

Clemson

Blue Devils Blank Tigers; Notch Third Straight Shutout

10/18/2009 7:15:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

CLEMSON, S.C. - The Duke women's soccer team registered two second half goals on Sunday to down Clemson, 2-0, at Riggs Field, which broke a five-match losing streak for the Blue Devils in Clemson, S.C.

Duke registered its third straight shutout in the victory and moved to 6-5-4 overall and 2-2-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) action. The Blue Devils had not registered a victory at Clemson since the 1997 season.

The Blue Devils and Tigers (3-12, 0-7) played a scoreless first half, which featured Clemson holding a 6-5 advantage in shots and outplaying Duke.

"I thought in the second half, we played really well," said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. "In the first half, Clemson actually outplayed us a little but and were fortunate to come out 0-0 at halftime. In the second half, we really dominated. It was nice to come out and score a goal right away. We also did a very nice job of possession in the second half."

Duke broke the scoreless tie just 110 seconds into the second stanza as senior Elisabeth Redmond played the ball through to junior Kendall Bradley who took the ball in the seem in-between two Tiger defenders, took a touch and hit the back of the net for her first goal of the season. Freshman Nicole Lipp, who has started the last three matches in the midfield position after moving from defense, added her first career assist on the goal.

The Blue Devils added an insurance goal in the 69th minute as junior Marybeth Kreger drove a great ball into the box and senior KayAnne Gummersall headed in her team-best eighth goal of the season. Senior Jane Alukonis added her third assist of the season on the goal.

Gummersall, who is from Wilmette, Ill., now owns 31 career goals, which is four shy of matching Sherrill Kester's mark of 35, which ranks third all-time at Duke. Gummersall's 73 points is now sixth on the Blue Devil charts. A native of Morristown, N.J., Redmond registered her 33rd career assist in the match and is now nine shy of the Duke career mark.

"We are defending better," said Church. "All year we have defended well, especially if you take away the Maryland game. We have done a fantastic of team defending. The formation change has no question helped but what we have done within the formation change is we are dropping our back line a little bit deeper, which has helped."

In goal for the Blue Devils, freshman Tara Campbell came away with her fifth shutout of the season as she notched four saves. A product of Cincinnati, Ohio, Campbell has helped a Duke defensive charge which has held opponents without a goal for 290 minutes and 20 seconds over the last four matches.

For the match, Duke outshot Clemson, 16-12, and held a 7-6 advantage in corner kicks. Gummersall netted a team-high four shots, while Redmond added three attempts for the Blue Devils. Seven other Duke student-athletes attempted shots on the afternoon.

"The thing that I think is an interesting point is we are scoring some goals out of it to," commented Church on the formation change. "Even though we are taking a forward away, it leaves more space for KayAnne and Elisabeth to run into up front. It doesn't restrict them like it does with three forwards. Not only are we getting what we wanted from a defensive standpoint, but we are also getting what we want from an attacking standpoint to. It has obviously worked really well for us at this point."

After being held scoreless for three straight matches, the Duke offense has netted six goals the last two contests.

Duke will next return home for its final two home matches of the 2009 regular season as the Blue Devils will host Virginia on Oct. 22 at 7:00 p.m., and Virginia Tech on Oct. 25 at 3:00 p.m., for senior day.

-d-u-k-e-