Cosme Scores in 70th Minute; Duke Holds Off No. 10 Stanford, 2-1

Thursday, September 2

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

5-0-0, 0-0-0

Stanford

3-1-0, 0-0-0

Stanford

Duke

Cosme Scores in 70th Minute; Duke Holds Off No. 10 Stanford, 2-1

9/2/2021 11:17:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score ROBBIE CHURCH POSTGAME CAITLIN COSME POSTGAME TESS BOADE POSTGAME

DURHAM – Graduate student Caitlin Cosme scored on a beautiful free kick in the 70th minute to lift No. 5 Duke to a thrilling 2-1 win over No. 10 Stanford on Thursday night at Koskinen Stadium.

Just four minutes after the Cardinal (3-1-0) knotted the match at 1-1, freshman Michelle Cooper was brought down near the right corner of the 18-yard box, setting the Blue Devils (5-0-0) up for a free kick opportunity. With Cosme and sophomore Katie Groff both lined up over the ball, the New Hyde Park, N.Y., native rifled a right-footed shot off the crossbar and in, giving Duke the lead once again.

The Blue Devils held off a desperate Stanford attack in the final 20 minutes of regulation and improved to 5-0-0 for the third time in program history and the first time under head coach Robbie Church.

"You're proud of that mark, but you're also proud of how we got there," Church said. "We've beaten some really good teams and this is one of our toughest non-conference schedules that we've had. [Stanford] is a fantastic team obviously, and a fantastic program. Paul [Ratcliffe] does an unbelievable job and they're going to win a lot of games this year. Our kids were ready. We needed this win. We've had a lot of quality wins over the last two or three years, but we haven't really had what we feel is a signature win against an elite team in the country, and this was to get that."

Duke came out of the gate as the aggressors, prodding the Stanford defense in the attacking third throughout the opening minutes. The Blue Devils broke through in the 23rd minute on a play that started with the Cardinal clearing a Duke corner attempt. The clearing effort made its way out to sophomore defender Emily Royson, who quickly played a high-arching ball right back into the box with multiple teammates in the area. Cooper was able to collect the ball and work herself free 15 yards from goal before firing a left-footed strike into the lower corner, putting the Blue Devils ahead 1-0. It was Cooper's fifth tally of the season and her fourth in a first half.

Stanford gained momentum in the latter stages of the half, sending two shots towards goal that were both answered by junior Ruthie Jones. Duke was able to limit the Cardinal's chances as time wound down and took the 1-0 lead into the break, marking the first time that Stanford was held scoreless through the first half this season.

The Cardinal returned to the pitch with a heightened sense of urgency and pushed the Duke defense back at the start of the second half. Stanford attempted three shots in the first five minutes but was unable to find the equalizer while the Blue Devils tried to settle back in.

Duke found a pair of golden opportunities to double the lead, first on a counter attack led by graduate student Lily Nabet in the 56th minute. Nabet stole the ball from a Stanford midfielder and raced into the attacking third before slipping a through pass to a charging Cooper, who accepted the feed behind the Cardinal defense but sent her shot over the goal. Moments later, a pinpoint buildup worked its way to Royson inside the 18-yard box and the sophomore buried her shot past goalkeeper Katie Meyer, but the goal was negated as the play was deemed offside.

Stanford's game-tying tally came at the 65:50 mark by way of a gorgeous right-footed shot by Naomi Girma. Andrea Kitahata gained possession to the left of the box and fed Girma with an opening 20 yards out, and Girma sent her strike past the outstretched arm of Jones and into the upper right corner, bringing the contest back to level.

Four minutes later, however, Cosme notched the winner for Duke on her eighth career goal and first marker of the season. The defender now has seven goals in her last 26 matches after getting on the board just once in 28 appearances over her first three seasons.

Stanford earned three corner kicks as time ticked down, peppering the Duke back line in hopes of netting another equalizer. The Blue Devils held strong, however, and killed the final moments by maintaining possession before the bench poured onto the field in celebration of a top-10 win.

Duke will enjoy a week off before its final non-conference matchup of the regular season on Thursday, Sept. 9, when the Blue Devils host East Carolina for a 7 p.m. match.

NOTES

The 2021 season marks the 21st at Duke for head coach Robbie Church, where he is now 261-131-59.
With the win, Duke improved to 5-0-0 for the third time in program history and the first time under Church. The Blue Devils started the 1997 season with five straight wins, while the 2000 Duke squad put together a program-record 8-0-0 start.
Duke earned its 10th home win under Church against an opponent ranked in the top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches poll.
The Blue Devils have outscored their opponents 11-2 in the second half of games this season.
Michelle Cooper's fifth goal of the season in the 23rd minute marks the most goals by a Duke freshman through their first five career games. She is also tied with Casey McCluskey (2001) for the most goals by a Blue Devil newcomer through their first five career starts.
Each of Duke's four goals in the first half of games this season have been scored by Cooper.
Ruthie Jones collected three saves in goal and improved to 8-0-2 over her last 10 starts dating back to April 2, 2021. The junior from Charlotte, N.C., has 26 saves to just four goals allowed in that stretch.
Emily Royson recorded her third career assist on Cooper's first-half goal.
Caitlin Cosme's game-winner was her first goal since the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 victory over Ole Miss on May 5, 2021.