Stanford leads the nation in scoring. Duke hasn’t allowed a goal in the NCAA Tournament.
It will be a matchup of strength versus strength when the top-seeded Cardinal (20-1-2) faces No. 2 Duke (17-4-1) Friday at 5:45 p.m. (Pacific) in the College Cup semifinals in Kansas City.
No. 3 Florida State, the third ACC tournament in the College Cup, plays No. 2 TCU in the first semifinal at 3 p.m. The national championship game is Monday at 4 p.m.
For the Stanford seniors, this run is personal. They’ve made three straight College Cups but have yet to win one.
“I think they would say it means everything,” Stanford coach Pau; Ratcliffe said. “They’ve been through a couple College Cups but haven’t won yet. This is the year they want to prove they are a championship team.”
Stanford is a three-time national champion (2011, 2017, 2019), tied for the third-most titles in NCAA history. The Blue Devils are seeking their first title after finishing as runner-up in 1992, 2011, and 2015.
Stanford has scored 21 goals through four NCAA Tournament wins, including three straight matches with at least five goals. Duke, meanwhile, has posted four consecutive clean sheets behind sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Dysart.
“It makes for an intriguing match, for sure,” Ratcliffe said. “A high-powered offense against a really good defensive unit. They’re obviously limiting teams’ opportunities, so when we do get chances, we’re going to have to execute.”
The contrast is stark. Stanford leads the nation with 4.13 goals per game and averages 23 shots, also a national best. Duke is outlasting opponents with disciplined defending and timely scoring from star forward Mia Minestrella, whose six NCAA Tournament goals lead the field.
“It’ll be harder to do against these top opponents,” Ratcliffe said of maintaining Stanford’s season-long attacking mentality. “But that’s the key for us. We’ve got to keep going. We can’t sit back and relax. If we can score two, three — fantastic. We’ve got to do it.”
Behind senior leaders such as Jasmine Aikey and Andrea Kitahata, Stanford has crafted one of the most balanced and unselfish attacks in program history. The team has scored at least three goals in 17 of 23 matches and has reached the five-goal mark 11 times.
Aikey, a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, has been electric. With a team-high 20 goals and 11 assists, she enters Friday’s semifinal with nine goals in her last seven matches and at least one point in 19 contests this season. She has five multi-goal matches and sits fifth on Stanford’s single-season scoring list.
Ratcliffe says the secret isn’t just talent — it’s generosity.
“They’ve done an extraordinary job of being unselfish in the final third,” he said. “Our players get as much joy out of an assist as they do scoring the goal. When they score, you see them come together and hug each other. They care about each other. They want the team to be successful first.”
While most of the attention will focus on Duke’s defensive record, the Blue Devils can match attacking quality with nearly anyone.
They’ve scored 55 goals this year, tied for seventh nationally, and they feature two of the country’s most dangerous playmakers. Minestrella’s 18 goals rank sixth nationally, while Kat Rader has 12 assists and has contributed to goals in 17 of 21 matches.
The Blue Devils also bring experience to the stage. They have reached back-to-back semifinals, and first-year head coach Kieran Hall is just the third coach in Division I women’s soccer history to take a team to the College Cup in their debut season.
But Hall and Duke know what awaits — a Stanford attack unlike anything they’ve seen in the tournament.