Seniors Lead No. 11 Duke to Thrilling Win at Clemson

Saturday, October 13

Clemson, S.C.

5:00 PM

Duke University

11-2-2, 5-1-1ACC

Clemson

9-6-0, 4-3-0ACC

Duke

Clemson

Seniors Lead No. 11 Duke to Thrilling Win at Clemson

10/13/2018 7:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score WSOC: McDonald Goal - Clemson WSOC: McCoy Goal - Clemson WSOC: Racioppi Goal - Clemson Box Score (PDF)Box Score (HTML)

By: Duke Sports Information

CLEMSON, S.C. - With the game tied and the clock winding down in regulation, Taylor Racioppi delivered in the clutch with a jaw-dropping score from distance to give the No. 11 Duke Blue Devils (11-2-2, 5-2-2 ACC) an exhilarating 3-2 win against the Clemson Tigers (9-6-0, 4-3-0 ACC) Saturday night at Historic Riggs Field.

Racioppi connected on a strike from 24 yards out to push the Blue Devils out to a 3-2 lead in the 77th minute. From there, Duke dominated possession, not allowing Clemson a quality chance to equalize en route to securing its third-straight win. The win snapped Clemson's two-game winning streak in the series, giving Duke its first victory against the Tigers since 2012 and first at Clemson since 2011.

14 minutes left.
Tied ballgame.

*Enter @tgo4thegoal*

Bring. Us. Your. Fire. Emojis.

Also, hi @SportsCenter 👋👋👋#GoDuke | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/3g7wLKxJGW
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 14, 2018

“That was a great game and a lot of fun to be a part of,” head coach Robbie Church said. “Clemson is playing really well, coming off some big wins, and we're playing at a really high level, too. So overall it was a great matchup and really proud of this team for fighting to get the win.”

Clemson wasted no time getting on the board, scoring 8:49 into the game on a redirect for the 1-0 lead. The Tigers would control the game for the remainder of the first half, limiting Duke to one shot on target to take that lead into the locker room.

After making adjustments during intermission, the Blue Devils leveled the match moments into the start of the second half. Kat McDonald would take a poor Clemson clearance and deliver a beautiful strike from 20 yards out into the right upper 90 to even the match at 1-1 in the 48th minute, her second goal of the year.

Hi, @SportsCenter. It's us again. Hope you're doing well.

Did you know that not only do 😺 have nine lives, but they score jaw-dropping goals, too?

It's true, just ask @katmcdonald_ 🔵😈#GoDuke | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/mtm9ux3pq7
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 14, 2018

Kayla McCoy followed it up seven minutes later with her ninth goal of season, taking a pass from Tess Boade and sending it into the back of the net to make it a 2-1 Duke lead. McCoy has now scored in five-straight matches and has 35 tallies for her career, tying her with Sherrill Kester (1996-99) for fourth in Duke history.

Duke would only remain out in front for 11 minutes, as Clemson brought the match even with a strike from 10 yards out in the 66th minute of play. Then entered Racioppi, who used her sixth goal of the season and 21st of her career to help secure another three points in the ACC standings for the Blue Devils.

“It was disappointing to give up that first goal, but to be able to come back in the second half and score three times against a team that doesn't give up goals that often is huge,” Church said. “Really proud of how we changed our mentality at halftime. We did change things with our shape and formation, but what's more important is how we changed our mentality and came out strong in the second half. This a tough group. They're fighters.”

The Blue Devils were outshot, 13-9, giving them their second win of the season when trailing in attempts. Despite being outshot, Duke put six shots on goal compared to Clemson's five. The two sides finished even in corners (2-2) and saves (3-3).

Church's squad returns home for its final two regular season matches at Koskinen, taking on Louisville and Boston College. Duke battles Louisville on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. on RSN before hosting No. 8 Boston College for Senior Day on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.

Fans can keep up with all things Duke women's soccer by following the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for “DukeWSoc”. Behind-the-scenes content of women's soccer and all Duke athletic programs can be found on Snapchat by following “dukeathletics”.

#GoDuke