No. 24 Duke, UNLV Battle to 0-0 Tie in Women?s Soccer

Saturday, September 5

Durham, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Duke University

UNLV

Duke Leadership: Student-Athlete of the Month

No. 24 Duke, UNLV Battle to 0-0 Tie in Women?s Soccer

9/5/2009 4:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

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DURHAM, N.C. - The 24th-ranked Duke women's soccer team dominated the offensive action on Saturday against UNLV (2-1-2), but couldn't get anything in the goal as the Blue Devils and Rebels closed with a 0-0 tie at Koskinen Stadium.

Duke (2-2-1) outshot UNLV, 31-2, and had numerous scoring chances but most of the attempts went right to Rebel goalkeeper Alicia Lugo, who finished with 11 saves.

"We had such a great effort today," said Duke Head Coach Robbie Church. "Back-to-back games -- we are a thin team. The kids put in such a workman's effort. I am broken hearted for them because we are working really, really hard."

In the first half, Duke controlled the ball as the Blue Devils outshot the Rebels, 12-0. One of the best scoring chances came in the 24th minute as senior Elisabeth Redmond sent a corner kick into the box and junior Marybeth Kreger fired a shot that was saved by one of the UNLV defenders. Off the rebound, senior Jane Alukonis rocketed a shot that was blocked.

The second half was much like the first as the Blue Devils outshot the Rebels, 15-1. UNLV took its first shot of the contest at the 49:01 mark that was saved by Blue Devil freshman goalkeeper Tara Campbell.

In the 64th minute, Redmond fired a shot that hit the left post and off the rebound junior Kendall Bradley sent a rocket that went high over the crossbar. Another excellent opportunity for the Blue Devils was in the 78th minute as sophomore Cody Newman had some nice footwork to get into the box and let go a shot that Lugo made a diving save on.

With 31 seconds remaining in regulation, Redmond got loose again and fired a blast that was heading into the goal but Lugo reached up and got her hand on the ball for the save. Following the save, the ball hit the crossbar and came back into the box. Gummersall took the ball and sent another shot towards the goal, but the UNLV defense sent it away.

At the end of regulation, Duke held a 27-1 shot advantage.

"It was just one of those days," said Redmond. "We built really well and moved the ball quickly, especially in the first half. We won a lot of balls in the air. Our final pass and our runs we need to work on and I think everyone would agree with that. It will come."

The Blue Devils had two shots in the first overtime by Alukonis and Rebecca Allen. In the second overtime, Allen had another shot that Lugo saved and then UNLV had its best scoring chance of the day in the 103rd minute.

Ashleigh Shoughro got past a Duke defender and had a one-v-one scoring opportunity against Campbell, but the freshman made a diving stop to preserve the shutout. Bradley had the final shot of the game in the 105th minute that was saved.

For the game, Campbell finished with two saves in 110 minutes. It marked her second straight shutout for the Cincinnati, Ohio product.

"We are not making some good decisions down in the final third," said Church. "We are not giving a good last ball in the final third and not getting a lot of balls at the goalkeeper. We are making a lot of goalkeepers look like All-Americans. It is not a lack of effort -- the effort is there. The execution has to be there. We have to get better on execution. We are a good team. I don't think we have slipped any from the last couple of years. We are just not getting the results we have had."

The Blue Devils have now outshot their opponents 129-34 on the season. Gummersall and Redmond finished the match with seven and six shots, respectively. A total of 12 different Duke players took shots on the afternoon.

"I thought we settled for shots [today]," commented Church. "Unless we are going to hit a really good shot at the corners, we were not going to be scoring from distance. We had people taking shots that probably shouldn't shoot from the distance they were. We settled a little bit to much instead of making the final pass and let's get it in tight to the goalkeepers."

Duke will next travel to Gainesville, Fla., for a non-conference contest against Florida on Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m.

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