North Carolina State University Athletics
Women's Soccer to Host No. 8 Duke on Sunday
9/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
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Sept. 30, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State women's soccer hosts No. 8 Duke on Sunday, Oct. 2, at 1 p.m. in the SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The Wolfpack enters the match with an overall record of 5-5 and 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while the Blue Devils are 7-2-1 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Duke is coming off of two-straight ACC losses to Top 10 teams, including a 1-0 shutout at no. 8 Boston College on Friday. NC State is 10-10-1 all-time versus Duke and holds a slight advantage in all-time home matches at 5-4-0. The Pack had just one match this week, but is fresh off a 1-1 campaign last week with a win at Miami and loss at No. 7 Florida State.
The Wolfpack will try to take its conference record to the winning column on Sunday and end a four-match losing streak against the perennially ranked Duke Blue Devils. NC State opened the season with a 1-0 double overtime victory at Miami last Thursday, but then sputtered at No. 7 Florida State after scoring the game's first goal in the first two minutes. Prior to those two matches, NC State was struggling to find the back of the net after going four games without a goal. Since then however, the Wolfpack has scored in its last two matches. Junior midfielder Carol Tognetti scored the game-winner at Miami and leads the team with four goals on the year. Freshman forward Lindsay Vera has a team-best three goals and three assists. She was the lone goal scorer in the 3-1 loss at Florida State. She also assisted on Tognetti's goal at Miami. Senior goalkeeper Kim Selz has been holding steady in between the posts. She has seven saves in the Pack's two ACC matches and has allowed three goals, all in the FSU game.
Duke will have to face conference newcomer No. 8 Boston College on Friday before facing NC State on Sunday. Both matches are road games. Duke's six-match winning streak came to a halt on Sept. 26, when then No. 11 Virginia made a road trip to Durham and took away a 1-0 shutout over the Blue Devils. Virginia is the only team in the conference that has not allowed a goal and has not lost in the three ACC matches thus far. Christie McDonald and Sarah McCabe each lead the Blue Devils with three goals, while Lauren Tippets has posted a Duke-best five assists. Duke's keeper, Allison Lipsher has been protected by the Blue Devil defense. Her opponents have tallied just three shots on goal and in that time she has posted two saves. Duke has been solid defensively as it posted six shutouts in nine games to this point and has given up just three goals. Teams have recorded only 21 shots on goal and Lipsher has stopped 15 of them. She has five shutouts to her credit thus far, including a 2-0 scoreless game from Virginia Tech on Sept. 22.
Following Sunday's match at home, NC State will travel to Wake Forest to take on the 11th ranked Demon Deacons at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6.
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