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Cooper & Rader Score to Lead Duke Past Virginia in ACC Championship Quarterfinals
10/30/2022 10:59:00 PM | Women's Soccer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 11th-ranked Duke women's soccer team traveled to Charlottesville, Va., for the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship on Thursday. The Blue Devils received goals from Michelle Cooper and Kat Rader to push Duke past Virginia, 2-1, at Klockner Stadium.
With the victory, No. 5 seed Duke (12-4-2) advances to the semifinals of the ACC Championship for the 15th time in school history and will next face No. 1 seed North Carolina on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
How It Happened
• The Blue Devils capitalized on their first opportunity of the match. Junior Maggie Graham fed a streaking Kat Rader up the right side of the pitch. Sophomore Michelle Cooper split two defenders and received a perfect pass from Rader. Cooper hit the bottom left corner of the goal to put Duke ahead, 1-0, at the 2:44 mark.
• Blue Devil freshman Kat Rader added a couple of shots following the Duke goal, but both went wide.
• At the 35:05 mark, Virginia was able to even the match, 1-1, as Alexa Spaanstra got behind the Duke defense and hit the inside of the far post.
• Virginia held a 4-3 advantage in shots at the end of the first half.
• Duke featured a 3-on-2 break in the 53rd minute, but Cooper's shot was saved by Cavalier keeper Cayla White.
• The Blue Devils regained the lead, 2-1, at the 54:19 mark as Cooper stole a pass from Virginia near midfield, drove up the field, fed a cross to the top of the right side of the box to Rader, who finished off her 11th goal of the season.
• At the 65:51 mark, Duke goalkeeper Ruthie Jones made an outstanding save to her right off an attempt from Laney Rouse to preserve the 2-1 Blue Devil lead.
• The Blue Devils were able to hold off a fierce Cavalier attack the rest of the match for the victory.
• For the match, Virginia held a 10-6 advantage in shots.
Notes
• Duke's goal at the 2:44 mark of the match was the second-quickest tally of the season for the Blue Devils.
• Michelle Cooper has now scored or assisted in 25-of-34 matches as a Blue Devil.
• With her assist on the night, Cooper is just the third Duke player to collect 10 or more goals and assists in a season (Laura Weinberg in 2012 and Imani Dorsey in 2017).
• Maggie Graham collected her sixth assist of the season. She has assisted on a goal in five out of the last seven matches.
• The Blue Devils faced their seventh top-10 team of the season.
• Kat Rader collected her 11th goal of the season, which is tied for second on Duke's single-season freshman record charts along with Kelly Cobb. Rader's 25 points ranks sixth as well.
• Cooper now owns 36 points on the season, which ranks sixth on Duke's single-season charts.
• Cooper's 13 goals is a career-best and she now owns a Duke-record 25 goals over her first two seasons with the Blue Devils.
• Both Cooper and Rader scored for the third straight match.
• Duke improved to 10-1-1 in the postseason against Virginia, including a 5-1-1 mark in the ACC Championship.
Quotes
"We are excited to advance and keep playing for an ACC Championship. That is always our goal. I am just so proud of this team. They showed so much grit. Look at our last five games, four of them on the road. We were in Tallahassee, in Clemson, had Louisville at home and this week we were in South Bend and then we had to travel to Charlottesville to play a really, really good Virginia team. I cannot be prouder of this group." – Duke head coach Robbie Church
"I was just really proud of the team and how we did, especially coming off our last game where we went up 2-1 and we were not able to hold it out. It was really nice to see the team have a really mature 90-minute performance." – Duke junior Katie Groff
Next Match
No. 5 seed Duke will take on No. 1 seed North Carolina on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m., in the ACC Championship semifinals. Florida State and Notre Dame will play in the other semifinal match. Both contests will be aired live on ACC Network.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".
#GoDuke
With the victory, No. 5 seed Duke (12-4-2) advances to the semifinals of the ACC Championship for the 15th time in school history and will next face No. 1 seed North Carolina on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
How It Happened
• The Blue Devils capitalized on their first opportunity of the match. Junior Maggie Graham fed a streaking Kat Rader up the right side of the pitch. Sophomore Michelle Cooper split two defenders and received a perfect pass from Rader. Cooper hit the bottom left corner of the goal to put Duke ahead, 1-0, at the 2:44 mark.
• Blue Devil freshman Kat Rader added a couple of shots following the Duke goal, but both went wide.
• At the 35:05 mark, Virginia was able to even the match, 1-1, as Alexa Spaanstra got behind the Duke defense and hit the inside of the far post.
• Virginia held a 4-3 advantage in shots at the end of the first half.
• Duke featured a 3-on-2 break in the 53rd minute, but Cooper's shot was saved by Cavalier keeper Cayla White.
• The Blue Devils regained the lead, 2-1, at the 54:19 mark as Cooper stole a pass from Virginia near midfield, drove up the field, fed a cross to the top of the right side of the box to Rader, who finished off her 11th goal of the season.
• At the 65:51 mark, Duke goalkeeper Ruthie Jones made an outstanding save to her right off an attempt from Laney Rouse to preserve the 2-1 Blue Devil lead.
• The Blue Devils were able to hold off a fierce Cavalier attack the rest of the match for the victory.
• For the match, Virginia held a 10-6 advantage in shots.
Notes
• Duke's goal at the 2:44 mark of the match was the second-quickest tally of the season for the Blue Devils.
• Michelle Cooper has now scored or assisted in 25-of-34 matches as a Blue Devil.
• With her assist on the night, Cooper is just the third Duke player to collect 10 or more goals and assists in a season (Laura Weinberg in 2012 and Imani Dorsey in 2017).
• Maggie Graham collected her sixth assist of the season. She has assisted on a goal in five out of the last seven matches.
• The Blue Devils faced their seventh top-10 team of the season.
• Kat Rader collected her 11th goal of the season, which is tied for second on Duke's single-season freshman record charts along with Kelly Cobb. Rader's 25 points ranks sixth as well.
• Cooper now owns 36 points on the season, which ranks sixth on Duke's single-season charts.
• Cooper's 13 goals is a career-best and she now owns a Duke-record 25 goals over her first two seasons with the Blue Devils.
• Both Cooper and Rader scored for the third straight match.
• Duke improved to 10-1-1 in the postseason against Virginia, including a 5-1-1 mark in the ACC Championship.
Quotes
"We are excited to advance and keep playing for an ACC Championship. That is always our goal. I am just so proud of this team. They showed so much grit. Look at our last five games, four of them on the road. We were in Tallahassee, in Clemson, had Louisville at home and this week we were in South Bend and then we had to travel to Charlottesville to play a really, really good Virginia team. I cannot be prouder of this group." – Duke head coach Robbie Church
"I was just really proud of the team and how we did, especially coming off our last game where we went up 2-1 and we were not able to hold it out. It was really nice to see the team have a really mature 90-minute performance." – Duke junior Katie Groff
Next Match
No. 5 seed Duke will take on No. 1 seed North Carolina on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m., in the ACC Championship semifinals. Florida State and Notre Dame will play in the other semifinal match. Both contests will be aired live on ACC Network.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".
#GoDuke
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