Stanford women's soccer suffered its worst loss in 26 years, falling 5-0 at No. 3 Duke in Durham, N.C., on Sunday, Sept. 13, to open ACC play, according to Stanford Athletics.

The top-ranked Cardinal, missing six players called up to the U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland, dropped to 6-1-1 on the season and 0-1-0 in conference play. Duke improved to 6-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the ACC.

The five-goal margin tied the largest defeat in program history. Stanford hadn't lost by that many since a 5-0 result at BYU on Nov. 11, 2000. It was also the Cardinal's first shutout loss since falling 1-0 to Florida State in the 2025 national championship match.

Duke scores twice before halftime

Katie Shea Collins opened the scoring in the 15th minute, beating Stanford goalkeeper Rhiannon Stewart to the near post after a run up the left side. Avery Oder added a goal in the 36th minute, and the Blue Devils led 2-0 at the half.

Yuna Marui scored in the 52nd minute and Mia Minestrella added a goal in the 59th before Oder completed her brace by converting a penalty kick in the 79th minute.

Duke sophomore goalkeeper Molly Vapensky recorded five saves, including four in the second half. She stopped consecutive Stanford chances in the 78th minute to preserve the shutout.

Six players away at the U-20 World Cup

Stanford sent more players to the U-20 World Cup than any other program in the country, according to Stanford Athletics: goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, defender Lizzie Boamah and midfielder Y-Lan Nguyen with the U.S.; forwards Kaiya Jota and Eleanor Klinger with England; and defender Alex Tay with Ghana. The tournament began Sept. 5.

Stewart started in goal without Birkel.

It was the first time all season an opponent outshot the Cardinal, though Duke's edge was slim at 13-12.

College Cup rematch

The matchup carried extra weight for Duke. Stanford eliminated the Blue Devils 1-0 in a College Cup semifinal last season on the way to the national title game, Yahoo Sports reported.

Head coach Paul Ratcliffe's squad entered the season carrying the program's first preseason No. 1 ranking since 2018 after winning the 2025 ACC regular-season and tournament titles.

What's next

Stanford returns home to host Louisville on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. Louisville enters at 7-1 after winning seven straight.