Duke Falls to Stanford 1-0 in NCAA Championship

Sunday, December 4

Kennesaw, Ga.

1:00 PM

Duke University

25-0-1

Stanford (Finals)

22-4-1

#5/3 Duke

#1/1 Stanford

Duke Falls to Stanford 1-0 in NCAA Championship

12/4/2011 4:55:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

KENNESAW, Ga. - In the first appearance in the NCAA College Cup final since 1992, the No. 1 seeded and third-ranked Duke women's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to top-ranked Stanford on Sunday at the KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga.

The Blue Devils had their record-breaking season come to an end with a 22-4-1 overall record, while Stanford won its first NCAA Championship and finished the year with a 25-0-1 mark.

Duke and Stanford featured a scoreless first half that saw Stanford hold a 7-5 shot advantage. The Cardinal attempted the first four shots of the match before junior Nicole Lipp and sophomore Laura Weinberg took the next three shots for the Blue Devils. Late in the first half, Stanford had the best scoring chance of the half as Teresa Noyola fired an attempt at the far right of the goal, but Duke junior goalkeeper Tara Campbell was able to get her hand on the ball and tip it over the crossbar.

In the second half, the first shot came off the head of Stanford's Noyola as Camille Levin sent a cross in from the right side to the back post and Noyola was there to head in her ninth goal of the season to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead at the 52:43 mark.

The Blue Devils would not hold their heads down as Weinberg and sophomore Mollie Pathman each came back to produce shots.

In the 72nd minute, Weinberg had Duke's best scoring chance of the match as her shot slid just over the crossbar off a pass from freshman Kelly Cobb. A Stanford defender was able to get a little bit of a deflection to make it go over the crossbar and keep the score, 1-0, in favor of Stanford.

Duke kept attacking the Cardinal defense and in the 74th minute, sophomore Kaitlyn Kerr blasted a right-footed shot that looked like it was heading in the top right corner of the net but Stanford goalkeeper Emily Oliver just got a piece of it to send the ball over the crossbar.

The Blue Devils changed formation late to try to get more of an attack and it worked getting a few more shots late but Duke couldn't get anything past a solid Stanford defense.

For the match, Duke outshot Stanford, 14-12. Weinberg, a native of Boca Raton, Fla., had a team-high four shots, while redshirt sophomore Kim DeCesare added three shots and Lipp chipped in two.

Campbell, who is out of Cincinnati, Ohio, finished the match with four saves and the Blue Devils allowed a goal in back-to-back matches for only the third time this season. Oliver added two saves for the Cardinal.

Pathman, Lipp and Kerr were all named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament team.

Building on its first appearance in the College Cup in almost 20 years, Duke will return all 11 starters in 2012 as the Blue Devils will look to make a repeat performance. Head Coach Robbie Church will also welcome a talented recruiting class to the mix as he will enter his 12th season at Duke.

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