CARY, N.C. — When all four teams take the field on Friday night at the College Cup, there will be few surprises.

Both national semifinals are rematches of earlier meetings this season. Duke and Florida State battled to a 0-0 draw back on September 20, while Penn State and Rutgers split two games, once in the regular season and the other in the Big Ten championship.

On one side of the bracket, both sides think another meeting provides an edge to their squad.

“I always want to say that I think we have the advantage,” Rutgers center back Erica Skroski said. “It is just an awesome experience and an awesome opportunity for us in general.”

“I think it’s hard to play any team three times, but we definitely have the scout on them, know how they play, and we’ll have a little bit of an advantage just because we did see them [earlier in the season],” Penn State forward Mallory Weber said.

The other side is a little bit more complicated. The ACC regular season slate saw Florida State fly up to Durham for the scoreless draw. But it was something of an outlier in the Seminoles’ regular season.

International duty and injuries limited the number of players Florida State had available that day. Regulars like Megan Campbell, Megan Connolly, Emma Kovisto and Natalia Kuikka were abroad for international duty, and Isabella Schmid was working her way back from an injury. Head Coach Mark Krikorian saw then how good Duke is, opting to play more conservatively.

MORE: College Cup picks + preview | Women's DI Bracket

“They had the lion share of the ball and I think that their athletic quality was very clear,” he said. “I thought their defending was very good as well. While it was a different tactic for us in that game than we usually use, it was out of respect for Duke that we played that way and for the personnel and the quality that they have. Quite honestly I think we learned more about ourselves than we did about them in that game that day, but it was a very worthwhile game for us.”

Duke Head Coach Robbie Church indicated that his staff didn’t even go back and look at the tape from the September matchup. He expects a much different challenge on Friday night, in front of what should be a pro-Duke crowd. Instead, Church and his staff chose to focus on what Florida State put together over its last five weeks of action with its roster at full strength.

Even with that going into their preparations, the result back in September did provide a significant moment for a young Blue Devils side.

“It was a real turning point for our team,” junior defender Rebecca Quinn said. “Just the fact that we knew we could compete at such a high level. I know we had a couple of bad losses at the beginning of the season and that showed that the team was top two in the country, that we could really compete with them and hold our own. It was a huge confidence builder for us.”

Defending has been a cornerstone of Duke’s run to the College Cup, even if they are the only program in Cary that’s given up a goal in the NCAA Tournament. Since conceding four goals in a 4-2 loss against Virginia Tech back on October 4, the Blue Devils have given up four in their last 10 games.

Limiting goals is another dominant trait of this weekend’s field. Of the four teams involved, only two goals combined have been scored in the 16 games played – both against the Blue Devils in their last two tournament games against Florida and Stanford.

Perhaps no team’s run to this point hinges more on defensive success than with Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights conceded only eight goals all season, and have given up two goals only three times in 25 games, never more than two in a single game.

“I think the difference between last year and this year is the level of experience,” Rutgers head coach Mike O’Neill said. “The goalkeeper, the backline, midfield, forward, everyone's involvement in defending is important. I think the details of the way we do things is big but it is also the commitment of making sure that they have set some goals in the preseason to break some records and are very proud of what they have accomplished on both sides of the ball and to be one of the best defensive teams in the country we know is important to the team.”

Penn State – which has outscored its opponents 17-0 through its four games in the tournament – beat Rutgers 2-0 in the Big Ten championship, and has enjoyed a defensive evolution of its own.

The Nittany Lions boast the most statistically potent offensive of the quartet, scoring 61 goals this season. Head coach Erica Walsh that the team’s progress to this point has been drive by the team’s ability to learn and implement, and that the recent defense success starts with that prolific attack.

“Our front six is a huge part of shaping the play,” Walsh said. “The growth of the back four, a young back four, fortunately anchored with, as far as I'm concerned, the best goalkeeper in the country sitting next to me [Britt Eckerstrom] with Emily Ogle sitting in front. It’s been neat to watch the young back four because they've grown together and they've made mistakes together. They support each other and they pick each other up.”

Give each team’s familiarity with one another, and defensive excellence, Friday’s games will come down to one thing: which teams can find a way to convert the few chances that come their way.

“I do think you'll see tweaks and adjustments, but ultimately it will come down to the players to read what they see and execute in those moments,” Walsh said.