Together they dominated the prep soccer scene.

Allison Lipsher, the Advertiser State Player of the Year in 2004, and Kelsey Baker, who earned the honor in 2005, led Punahou to three consecutive state championships, even shutting out all opponents in 2004.

Years later, they are still at it, albeit with different teams. Lipsher, a senior goalkeeper at Duke, and Baker, a junior defender at Pepperdine, helped their respective defenses forge a 0-0 tie in a game Aug. 31 in the West Coast Conference/Atlantic Coast Conference adidas Challenge in San Diego.

"It was funny, she has the same style she did in high school," Lipsher said of Baker. "She's still a great player. You can definitely tell she's a leader on the team. She's one of the more dominant personalities on her team.

"It was great to see her. We hung out for a little while after the game."

Baker added: "Besides the fact that she singlehandedly kept them in the game when we played them, she was the anchor of the team, also."

Although they were nearly untouchable in high school, Baker said it wasn't always that way.

"We made some silly, silly mistakes," she said of a game in 2003. "(Lipsher) had a really bad goal kick, and it hit my back, and it bounced into the 18 (yard box) and someone kicked the ball and scored a goal. It was really embarrassing. To think that happened the year before we shut out everyone, it proves how much better we all got."

Now, playing in two of the toughest conferences in the nation, their defensive abilities have helped their teams.

Entering the season, Lipsher's 26 career shutouts ranked her second at Duke and fifth in the ACC. She picked up three more shutouts this season for the Blue Devils (1-1-2).

Lipsher started since her freshman year and played some of the nation's toughest competition in the ACC.

"I think I was as prepared as I could have been," Lipsher said. "You can't be prepared to play at a level that is so much higher than you're used to. It was still such a shock coming in.

"I think I had nine goals scored on me in my first three games. It was nine more than I was scored on in my senior year in high school."

Her sophomore year she was named to the Soccer Buzz & NSCAA All-Southeast Region second team after earning all-region freshman honors by Soccer Buzz the year before.

The Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of Lipsher's years there, making it to the Sweet 16 in 2004.

Baker was named to the WCC second team last season, breaking into the starting lineup as a sophomore. The Waves (0-3-1) have played in six of the past seven NCAA Tournaments.

"I went out my sophomore year, not really with a chip on my shoulder, but with something to prove," Baker said. "I wanted to prove it not only to myself, but for Hawai'i soccer in general, to prove we can do it."

Like Baker, Lipsher had some frustrations in her freshman year at Duke. She had reconstructive surgery on her left knee to repair her posterolateral corner and meniscus after she injured it at the San Diego Surf Cup following her freshman season.

"It was tough, mentally, not being on the field," she said. "It was the first time I hadn't been able to play. It makes you reevaluate your priorities. It made me look at what life was going to be like after soccer."

She is on schedule to graduate in May in history.

"It's kind of nostalgic already. It went by so fast," said Lipsher, who said some of her favorite memories at Duke include key wins against Virginia in the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 in her freshman year, against North Carolina her sophomore year and against Florida State, which was ranked third, last year.

"You don't realize you've changed until you look back at where you've started," said Lipsher, who was selected as a captain.

Lipsher and Baker are not the only players from the state championship teams of 2004 through 2006 to continue their careers at a high level of soccer.

"We had so many good players," said Baker, who credited Punahou coach Jorge Barbosa.

Former Buffanblu standouts Lizzy Carlson (Denver), Kim Culver (Cal State-Northridge), Kelsie Look (Hawai'i), Ashley Collins (Air Force), Rachael Lau (Harvard), Sophie Merrifield (Yale), Kellie Nakahara (Pacific), Ashley Nied (Saint Mary's), Marisa Schoen (Penn) and Alli Tsuchida (Boise State) all play for Division I teams.

"I definitely think about it," Lipsher said. "It was the glory days. I definitely look back upon it with a lot of fond memories."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.