No. 1 Duke beats No. 7 Stanford women’s soccer in dominant ACC victory
Final: Duke 4, Stanford 1
The Blue Devils left no doubts in their first game as the nation's No. 1 where they beat No. 7 Stanford in a dominant 4-1 top 10 ACC victory. The result marks Duke's first-ever win in Stanford territory and snaps the Cardinal's 34-home-game unbeaten streak. Duke is the only team to score multiple goals on Stanford this season and before tonight, the Cardinal had only allowed five goals total.
Duke captain Maggie Graham had a standout performance tallying a hat-trick and an assist on the night. Despite the scoreboard, the home team put up a strong fight totaling 16 shots, eight on target and six corners. Blue Devil keeper, Leah Freeman put up a season-high seven saves, including a penalty kick stop, to keep the Stanford attack at bay and solidify the 4-1 victory.
Stanford drops to 3-2-1 in conference play and will have another tough ACC matchup on Sunday when they host No. 2 North Carolina. Duke improves to 5-0 in conference play and will take on No. 17 Cal on Sunday afternoon to finish out their California stretch.
Stanford PK denied 🧤🧤
Duke goalkeeper Leah Freeman makes her seventh save of the night in a key moment to stop a Stanford penalty kick and the follow-up shot directly after. The Blue Devils hold on to their three-goal advantage.
ALL NIGHT! 🧱@LeahFreeman01 shuts down the PK attempt for her EIGHTH save of the match!
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 11, 2024
🔵😈 4, 🌲 1 pic.twitter.com/QE1FEV0dQb
Hat-trick for Graham 🎩 Duke leads 4-1
Graham scores her third of the night to give Duke a dominant 4-1 lead with over twenty minutes to go.
HOW BOUT THE HAT TRICK FOR MAGGIE GRAHAM!
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 11, 2024
🎩🎩🎩
🔵😈 4, 🌲 1 pic.twitter.com/XHkpCUvESj
Make that 3️⃣ for the Blue Devils
Unphased by Stanford's slew of shots, the Blue Devils claimed their third of the night to improve their lead to 3-1 in the 60th minute. The goal was a full team effort with Maggie Graham and Mia Oliario combining to find Devin Lynch at the center of the box for a first-time unstoppable finish.
60' | BLUE DEVILS ADD ANOTHER!
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 11, 2024
Mo and Maggie set the table ➡️ Devin with the finish 🔥
🔵😈 3, 🌲 1 pic.twitter.com/pflJYMCKMg
The Cardinal knocking at the door 🥊
46' | Leah with a huge save to start the second 💪
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 11, 2024
🔵😈 2, 🌲 1 pic.twitter.com/KM0SLXlV9Q
Halftime: Duke 2, Stanford 1 🫣
After an eventful first half, including two Blue Devil goals in a span of fourteen seconds, Duke enters the locker room with a narrow 2-1 lead over their hosts, Stanford. The Blue Devils become the first team this season to manage two goals past a strong Stanford defense. The Cardinal scored a late goal to give themselves a launching pad for the next 45 minutes of play.
Both teams created three shots on goal and Stanford leads with three corners to Duke's one. So far, it's been a game of equally distributed possession and fair tackles with only a handful of fouls and one yellow card. With only a goal separating them, though, the tensions are sure to rise in the second half.
Stanford earns one back 🌲
The Cardinal chips away at Duke's early lead with a Shae Harvey header that hit the post and bounced just over the goal line in the 33rd minute.
34’ » GOOOOOOOOOOAL 🌲@shaeharvey2023 gets one back for the Cardinal!
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) October 11, 2024
📺 » ACC Network Extra
💻 » https://t.co/Z33tLUaaQg#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/V19hmZI2zQ
Stanford Eleanor Klinger earned her second assist of the season with the lofted ball to Harvey who tallied her second goal of the season.
TWO DUKE GOALS IN LESS THAN A MINUTE 🫨
One goal at minute 3:53, the second at 4:07. Fourteen seconds. That's all it took for Duke to stun Stanford with back-to-back goals just minutes into the game. Maggie Graham scored an explosive brace to put the Blue Devils up early — netting her sixth and seventh goals of the season.
3' | THE BLUE DEVILS IN THE BUILDING ‼️
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 11, 2024
Ella uses her speed and finds Maggie on the cross for a DUKE GOAL!
🔵😈 1, 🌲 0 pic.twitter.com/lCF4mQEMux
All credit to forward Ella Hase for weaving her way into the Stanford box and getting off a perfectly weighted cross for Graham to get the scoring started. And she didn't take her foot off the gas from there. Just seconds later, Graham capitalized off a Stanford fluke inside the eighteen and slotted in number two.
4' | MAGGIE GRAHAM HELLO ‼️👋
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 11, 2024
Two goals in less than a minute for the captain! 🫡
🔵😈 2, 🌲 0 pic.twitter.com/qblTuLLaUi
Kick-off ⚽️
Almost game-time 👀
For the first time this century, Duke takes the field as the No. 1 team in the nation with their hosts, No. 7 Stanford, ready to put the new ranking to the test. Here are the starting lineups for tonight's top 10 ACC showdown:
Follow along here for live updates throughout the match.
How to watch No. 1 Duke vs. No. 7 Stanford
Previewing the competition 👀
Thursday night's top-10 ACC matchup will be the first of its kind as conference rivals with No. 7 Stanford (11-1-1) and new No. 1 Duke (9-1) looking to improve their conference record. The Cardinal lost its debut match in the ACC at then-No. 13 Wake Forest, but Stanford hasn't lost since and improved to 20 goals on the season while holding opponents to just five. The Blue Devils have yet to lose in conference play, claiming a 3-1 win over then-No. 25 Virginia and ranking fourth in the nation in scoring, averaging 3.2 goals per game.
.@DukeWSOC playing no games this year! 🙅♀️😈
— Duke Athletics (@DukeATHLETICS) October 8, 2024
• Currently riding a nine-game winning streak, while outscoring opponents, 32-3 (!)
• Ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in school history since 1992
• Ranked No. 1 for the first time under head coach Robbie Church… pic.twitter.com/sV61hl4vhr
The Cardinal comes off an almost undefeated 2023 season, where their only loss came in the College Cup final to Florida State. The Blue Devils did not make the NCAA tournament last season but are on track to make a deep run if they keep up their offensive domination.
In their last meeting early last season, Stanford claimed a 4-0 home win. Two of those goal scorers, Andrea Kitahata and Nya Harrison, will be on the roster for Thursday's matchup. Kitahata leads the Cardinal with an impressive six goals and four assists, while Harrison, a defender, has helped secure eight shutouts already. While watching the Blue Devils, keep an eye on forwards Maggie Graham and Devin Lynch, who combined have earned 28 points for Duke. Graham leads the team with five goals and four assists, and Lynch, who stepped into the starting lineup six games ago, has delivered an assist in each game in as many games.
Duke-Stanford history ⚔️
2011 College Cup Final
Thursday night's matchup will be the first time the Cardinal and Blue Devils meet in ACC competition. Previous to Stanford's move to the ACC, the two schools met just four times in the past decade, with Stanford claiming the most recent win last season (4-0) and a win in 2014 (2-0), while Duke claimed victory in 2021 (2-1). Overall, since 1989, Stanford leads with nine wins to Duke's two.
The most notable matchup between the two was at the 2011 College Cup final, where Stanford claimed the program's first national championship with a 1-0 win over Duke. The 2011 meeting was the Blue Devils' first College Cup appearance in over 20 years. They have since appeared twice more but have yet to win a national title. Stanford, the 2023 finalists, have since claimed two more national titles (2017, 2019).
The teams are led by long-time coaches Robbie Church (Duke) and Paul Ratcliffe (Stanford) — the same two coaches that shook hands on the sidelines of the 2011 final.