NCAA College Cup: Duke vs. Florida State Tonight

12/4/2015 6:32:00 AM | Women's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

THE MATCH
No. 19 Duke vs. No. 2 Florida State
When: Dec. 4 \| 7:30 p.m.
Where: WakeMedSoccer Park
Watch: ESPNU / ESPN3 \| Live Stats

DUKE (13-5-5)
Roster
Coaches
Stats
S chedule & Results
Notes
*FLORIDA STATE (18-2-4)*
Roster
Coaches
Stats
Schedule & Results
Notes

RELATED LINKS
Video: Duke Ready to Face FSU
GoDuke.com: Martinez Receives Elite 90 Award
Video: College Cup Media Day Sights & Sounds
Video: Media Day Press Conference
Quotes: Duke/FSU Pregame
Photos: NCAA College Cup
Photos: NCAA College Cup Banquet
GoDuke.com: Confidence, Culture Change Key Proctor's Success
N&O: Duke women's soccer get high profile pep talks
Chronicle: Duke looks for revenge, Final Four win against Seminoles

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Duke Faces Florida State in NCAA College Cup

No. 3 seed and 19th-ranked Duke (13-5-5) makes its third appearance in the NCAA College Cup

The Blue Devils face a familiar foe in top-seeded and No. 2 ranked Florida State (18-2-4) at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4 at WakeMed Soccer Park.

ESPNU will broadcast the match live with Glenn Davis (play-by-play) and Julie Foudy (color) calling the action.

The other semifinal match features No. 2 seed Rutgers (19-3-3) against No. 1 seed Penn State (20-3-2), which kicks off at 5 p.m. The two winners will advance to the title match Sunday, Dec. 6 at 12 p.m.

NCAA College Cup

Duke is competing in the NCAA College Cup for the third time in school history: 1992, 2011 and 2015. The Blue Devils own a 2-0 record in NCAA semifinal matches, defeating Hartford (1-0) in 1992 and Wake Forest in 2011 (4-1).

College Cup Appearances

Duke is one of 15 teams to advance to the NCAA College Cup three or more times: North Carolina (26), Notre Dame (12), Santa Clara (10), Florida State (9), UCLA (9), Portland (8), Stanford (7), Connecticut (7), UMass (6), Colorado College (5), Penn State (4), George Mason (4), Duke (3), Virginia (3) and California (3).

Duke in the NCAA Tournament

The Blue Devils earned an NCAA Tournament bid for the 12th time out of the past 13 seasons and the 21st time in school history. Duke has advanced to the second round of the tournament in 12 out of its past 13 appearances.

The Blue Devils hold an overall record of 29-18-9 in tournament play. Over their past four NCAA Tournament appearances, Duke has outscored its opponents, 43-15.

How We Got Here

Duke had one of the toughest roads to the NCAA College Cup. After the Blue Devils knocked off James Madison, 5-0, at home, Duke hit the road for Gainesville, Fla., to face FGCU in their backyard. The Blue Devils took down the Eagles, 2-0.

Duke had the tall task of taking on second-seeded Florida on its home pitch, but was able to sneak away with a 2-1 victory.

Duke traveled across the country to take on No. 1 seed Stanford. The Blue Devils held on and advanced through penalty kicks, 3-2.

A Look at Florida State

Defending NCAA Champion Florida State enters the NCAA College Cup for the fifth straight year and has totaled an 18-2-4 overall record on the season. The Seminoles are riding a seven-match unbeaten streak heading into Friday's match. FSU has outscored its opponents 15-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

Megan Connolly (9 goals, 10 assists), Cheyna Williams (10 goals, 7 assists), Elin Jensen (7 goals, 5 assists) and Berglind Thorvaldsdottir (8 goals, 2 assists) lead the Seminoles offensively. FSU has scored 64 goals and allowed only 13 this season.

The Series with Florida State

Duke and Florida State meet for the 25th time in school history. The Seminoles lead the series 11-8-5, including wins in four of the past five matches.

The Blue Devils' last victory over FSU came at home Sept. 18, 2011 as Duke downed Florida State, 2-1.

Local Flair at NCAA College Cup

Duke features five players from North Carolina on the roster in 2015: Christina Gibbons (Raleigh, N.C.), Kat McDonald (Raleigh, N.C.), Morgan Reid (Cary, N.C.), EJ Proctor (Wilson, N.C.) and Mary Love Taylor (Wilson, N.C.). All five live within an hour and a half from WakeMed Soccer Park.

What a Turnaround

After not making the NCAA Tournament a year ago, the Blue Devils have made an incredible turnaround to advance to the NCAA College Cup. It actually marks the second time a Duke team has gone to the NCAA College Cup the year after not making the NCAA Tournament as the Blue Devils accomplished this in 1992 as well.

Duke became the first team since Portland in 2000 to reach the NCAA College Cup after not making it in the NCAA Tournament the year before. Other teams to accomplish this were Duke (1992), SMU (1995), George Mason (1993), Santa Clara (1989), Wisconsin (1988), UCF (1987) and Portland (2000).

Young Squad

Duke has been featuring only one senior, four juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen in the starting lineup as of late. The Blue Devils own the youngest starting XI in the College Cup. Florida State and Rutgers feature five senior starters, while Penn State owns two.

The Blue Devils are the only team in the College Cup that has a freshman leading goal scorer (Taylor Racioppi and Kayla McCoy with 7).

Duke Knocking Off Conference Champs

During Duke's run in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils have knocked off the Colonial Athletic Association champion James Madison, Atlantic Sun champion FGCU, SEC champion Florida and Pac 12 champion Stanford.

The Blue Devils will next face ACC champion Florida State.

Raben Family Enjoying Long Run

The Raben family has been enjoying an extended run in the NCAA Tournament for two kids -- Lizzy Raben (Duke) and Sam Raben (Wake Forest). The duo are the only brother/sister tandem left in the NCAA men's and women's soccer tournament.

Sam Raben and the Demon Deacons are in the NCAA quarterfinals and will face Stanford Dec. 5 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Streak Breaker

Over the last four matches in the NCAA Tournament, Duke has been a streakbreaker

The Blue Devils snapped a six-match unbeaten streak James Madison had in the first round. In the second round, FGCU held an 11-match streak and had not lost since Sept. 20. Florida had a 12-match unbeaten streak prior to the Duke loss and had not lost since Sept. 27.

Freshman Leading Scorer

The last time Duke featured a freshman leading scorer was in 2011 when the Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Championship game. Rookie Kelly Cobb paced Duke on the season with 11 goals and nine assists for 31 points.

So far this season, freshmen Taylor Racioppi and Kayla McCoy lead the Blue Devils with seven goals each. Racioppi owns a team-high 20 points.

Noting Duke

Blue Devil junior Christina Gibbons and sophomore EJ Proctor have played 1,340 straight minutes over the last 14 matches since the Florida State match in September.

The Blue Devils have advanced in penalty kicks during NCAA action each of the last five times and are 7-2 all-time.

Duke is one of only two ACC teams left in the NCAA Tournament, after finishing eighth in the ACC regular season standings.

The Blue Devils' have scored 15 goals over the last five matches.

After not scoring for 14 straight matches, freshman Taylor Racioppi has netted goals in three out of the last five matches. She owns nine points in those contests.

Duke owns a 9-0-3 record this season in night matches, while totaling a 4-5-2 mark during day matches.

The Blue Devils are 10-0-2 when scoring first on the year.

Duke has outshot its opponents by a 412-229 ledger on the year.

The Blue Devils brought in the No. 2 recruiting class nationally in 2014 and the No. 6 class in 2015.

Rebecca Quinn took the 2015 spring semester off from school to train with the Canada National Team. She ended up playing with the Canada Pan American Games team over the summer in her home country of Canada.

Junior Krysia Sikora trained with the Poland National Team during the summer of 2015. She traveled to Hungary for the Balaton Cup as the team went 1-1 in competition.
Duke features tri-captains in 2015 with Christina Gibbons, Danielle Duhl and Kara Wilson leading the Blue Devils. It was voted on by the team members.

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