Duke’s statement win over No. 1 Stanford on Sunday didn’t just shake up the top of the women’s soccer landscape - it also put Katie Shea Collins in the spotlight.
The Blue Devils junior was named the TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Week on Tuesday after powering third-ranked Duke to a 5-0 rout of the Cardinal in Durham, N.C. Collins delivered one of the best performances of her college career, finishing with one goal, two assists and a drawn penalty kick in the second half.
She wasted no time making an impact. At 14:14 of the first half, Collins scored her sixth goal of the season to open the night’s scoring and give Duke a 1-0 lead, finishing a sequence set up by Mia Oliaro and Sam Bodensteiner. Later in the half, she turned provider, slipping a perfect pass into the box for Avery Oder in the 36th minute to stretch the margin to 2-0.
Duke kept rolling after the break, and Collins stayed at the center of it. In the 52nd minute, she assisted rookie Yuna Marui on her first collegiate goal. Then, with Duke already up 4-0, Collins drove into the left side of the box and drew the penalty that Oder converted in the 79th minute for her second goal of the match.
By the end of the day, Collins had a hand in four of Duke’s five goals. She has now scored in five straight games and sits second on the team with six goals.
The result carried plenty of weight for Duke beyond Collins’ individual honor. Stanford had allowed just two goals through its first seven games before Sunday. Duke’s five goals were the most it has ever scored against a No. 1 opponent, and the Blue Devils’ third win all-time over a top-ranked team also came with one of the program’s biggest statements: the 5-0 final matched the largest margin of defeat in Stanford history, a mark that had stood since Nov. 11, 2000, when the Cardinal lost on the road at BYU.
Duke also added another notable line to its record book, scoring four or more goals against a top-10 opponent for the fifth time in program history.
The Blue Devils are back in action Thursday, Sept. 17, when they head down Tobacco Road to face No. 7 North Carolina. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network.
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