Rader’s Two Goals Push No. 4 Duke Past No. 12 South Carolina, 2-1

Thursday, August 10

Columbia, S.C.

5 p.m.

Duke University

South Carolina (Exh.)

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Rader’s Two Goals Push No. 4 Duke Past No. 12 South Carolina, 2-1

8/10/2023 9:46:00 PM | Women's Soccer

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Duke women's soccer sophomore Kat Rader connected on two goals to lead the fourth-ranked Blue Devils past No. 12 South Carolina, 2-1, at Eugene E. Stone III Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

Rader, who hails from Stuart, Fla., tallied two first-half goals to lead the Blue Devils, after being tabbed to the preseason All-ACC Team earlier Thursday.

How It Happened
•   After a great pass by Carina Lageyre to a streaking Kat Rader, Rader was taken down for a yellow card. Rader stepped up and blasted a right-footed free kick that went off the goalkeeper's hands and into the left corner of the net for the quick 1-0 lead in the fifth minute.
•   The Blue Devils controlled most of the first half until the 31st minute as South Carolina took the ball, after some miscommunication from the Blue Devils. The Gamecocks drove all the way down the field and Catherine Barry hit the bottom left corner of the goal to even the score, 1-1.
•   Rader kept putting pressure on the Gamecocks totaling four other shots, before connecting on her second goal of the match to put Duke ahead, 2-1. Freshman Mia Minestrella found Rader outside the box, drove inside and blasted another into the back of the net in the 43rd minute.
•   At the end of the first half, Duke held a 6-1 shot advantage with Rader taking five.
•   South Carolina had a great scoring chance in the 58th minute as the Gamecocks got around Duke goalkeeper Leah Freeman and sent a shot towards the far post, but Blue Devil defender Emily Royson was there to use her body to knock the ball out of bounds for a corner kick.
•   Both teams attempted six shots in the second half.
•   Following the end of regulation, both teams played an additional 15 minutes.

Notes
•   For the match, Duke held a 12-7 shot advantage.
•   Both Leah Freeman and Caroline Duffy played in goal over the 90 minutes of regulation.

Quotes
"You can never underestimate a win and I don't care where it is. You definitely have to have that winning mentality. You have to expect to win every time you step on the field. Were we perfect today, no, we weren't by any means, but we played a really good South Carolina team on their field. There was some really good stuff that was done. We weren't as consistent as we would like to be, but it's early in August. It is important that we got the win. Now we have a week until our opening game against West Virginia. We have to get better and we will individually and collectively. Give us credit. We got a couple of nice [exhibition] wins against Wake Forest and South Carolina, which are two really good teams. So, I'm proud of the team." – Duke head coach Robbie Church

Next Match
Duke next opens the 2023 campaign on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m., as the Blue Devils host West Virginia at 7 p.m., inside Koskinen Stadium. To purchase tickets, head to www.GoDuke.com.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".

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