Setting a goal
Former Punahou standout Alli Lipsher
will start at goalkeeeper for Duke
Alli Lipsher left Honolulu last month as an All-America high school soccer player.
She returned yesterday as the starting goalkeeper for Duke University, a perennial top-20 contender ... and as a part-time surfing instructor.
Lipsher has started three of Duke's first four games and got her first collegiate victory, and shutout, Friday.
"We are extremely happy with the way Alli has played so far," Duke coach Robbie Church said Tuesday. "I think she will be a phenomenal goalkeeper with us."
Duke plays Hawaii tomorrow and Long Beach State on Saturday in the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Soccer Classic at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park. Both games start at 7 p.m.
"I am really excited about going home and playing in front of my friends and family," Lipsher said Tuesday. "It will be nice to show my teammates where I am from and (have them) experience the culture of Hawaii.
"One of my favorite activities at home is surfing and many of my teammates have expressed interest in learning how. It will be fun trying to teach them how to surf," she added.
"Alli caught a bunch of waves with friends the morning before she left (for Duke at Durham, N.C.)," said her father, Julian.
It has not been all smooth surfing for Lipsher at Duke so far. She lost to then-11th-ranked Tennessee 4-3 in overtime in the season opener and was blitzed by then-12th ranked Florida 5-1 on Sunday.
"We play a national schedule and she has run across a couple of good teams," Church said. "We made some mistakes in front of her on Sunday that ended up in back up the net.
"Alli is making an adjustment, like every freshman does. From high school (Punahou) and a club team (Honolulu Bulls) to the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) is a really big jump," Church said.
Hawaii Grown soccer players set two school records and earned two conference Player of the Week honors in the first full week of the season.
Here are some of their accomplishments:
>> Bethel (Indiana) sophomore Lisa Franke (Kealakehe '03) scored five goals and had three assists in victories over Trinity Christian, Judson and Northwestern College last weekend.
She was selected Mid-Central College Conference Player of the Week and she broke Bethel's career points record in the first weekend of her sophomore season. She has 87 points (39 goals and nine assists).
Franke, who was a National Christian College All-American last year, is one of seven Hawaii players on the Bethel roster. Five are starters.
>> Wellesley (Mass.) freshman Jennifer Lau (Punahou '04 of Makiki) was named New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Soccer Player of the Week on Monday.
She scored three goals in two games -- including two in her collegiate debut -- as Wellesley won the Randolph Macon tournament championship.
>> Menlo (Calif.) freshman Katie Sakai (Iolani '04 of Salt Lake) scored a school-record four goals as Menlo defeated Simpson (Calif.) 9-0 on Monday.
"The goals all came off of crosses, and so all the goals could not have come without the help from my teammates," said Sakai, who Menlo sports information director Nicholas Enriques has dubbed "Super Sakai."
Among other notable efforts by Hawaii soccer players last weekend:
>> Idaho State sophomore Jen Loo (Mililani '03) scored on a header off of a cross in a 1-0 victory over Northern Iowa on Sunday, marking the first time that Idaho State has opened the season with four straight victories.
>> East Carolina junior Carmen Calpo (Pearl City '01 of Waianae) scored in the Pirates' 2-0 victory over Georgia Southern on Friday.
"Carmen can be a dominant player," coach Rob Donnenwirth says. "She covers an unbelievable amount of ground and is a big threat with her play-making ability."
Calpo started all 19 games last season and scored 7 points.
>> Junior Keith DeVey (St. Anthony '02 of Kula) scored a breakaway goal as Santa Clara's fifth-ranked men's team opened its season with a 3-0 victory over Massachusetts.
DeVey is "a creative thinker who has a knack for finding the goal," coach Cameron Rast says.
DeVey's ability to think was demonstrated with his 3.76 grade-point average last year, which earned him a place on the West Coast Conference Commissioner's Gold List, and was highest among 16 student-athletes from Hawaii who were honored by the WCC.
>> After a year away from the game, Jolie Nitta (Mililani '02) has returned to NAIA power Azusa Pacific (Calif.) and scored two goals in her first three games, including a penalty kick on Saturday that gave Azusa a 1-0 victory over Malone of Ohio in San Diego.
Coach Jason Surrell says Nitta "is perhaps the top all-around player on the roster."
>> Former NAIA national Player of the Year and WUSA professional Andrea Alfiler (Kapaa '97) has joined the coaching staff at San Diego State.
Alfiler plays with the Rochester Reign in the Women's Premier League.
