The Duke women’s soccer team played its third NCAA Tournament game of the year at Koskinen Stadium on Sunday night, and Leah Freeman still hasn’t allowed a goal.
The Blue Devils smothered the Michigan State Spartans for a 2-0 victory in the third round, clinching a berth in the Elite Eight in head coach Robbie Church’s final season.
In similar fashion to its second-round win over Texas Tech, Duke spent most of the opening half in a scoreless draw. Midfielder Carina Lageyre and forward Devin Lynch, both juniors, eventually solved that problem with two goals on opposite sides of the break, but the Blue Devils’ defense gave them a massive margin for error.
The Spartans never got a shot going toward the goal, only getting three off during the entire night.
“I think that starts from our front line,” fifth-year midfielder Katie Groff said after the game. “We don’t talk about defending the goal that much, we talk about defending the halfway line and probably communicating…We just try to be disciplined and organized. You know, sometimes there’s a time for last ditch defending, but we like to eliminate everything else leading up to that.”
Michigan State keeper Kaitlyn Parks ended the game with 10 saves, but with the Blue Devils firing off 29 shots for the game, the Spartans never stood a chance.
Sunday night’s victory was the Blue Devils’ third consecutive shutout to open the NCAA Tournament. Duke defeated Howard 8-0 in the opening round before a 3-0 victory over the Red Raiders on Friday, giving the team a 13-0 cumulative score through the postseason.
Church and the Blue Devils get nearly a week off before a Saturday game against the Virginia Tech Hokies, another battle within Koskinen Stadium. A victory would send them to the College Cup for the first time since 2017 and the fifth time in program history.