The independent news organization of Duke University
It was definitely a game to remember for head coach Robbie Church who registered his 100th ACC win as the Duke women's soccer head coach.
“We're very capable of winning all the games on our schedule,” head coach Robbie Church said. “But we have to look inside of us—staff, players, and answer the questions. Great teams will make adjustments, great teams will come out with determination, and great teams will make that change. This is not the end of the world.”
The story begins with the environment of the night. It was alumni night at Koskinen Stadium and there were 25 former players in attendance to watch the Blue Devils take on the Orange.
Duke dug itself into a hole early. In the 22nd minute of the game, Virginia Tech’s Nicole Kozlova sliced through the defense and delivered a strike to the back of the net, putting her team at a 1-0 advantage.
Fear not Duke fans—this particular confluence of chaos is unlikely to happen again.
The second-ranked Blue Devils made the trip to Charlottesville, Va., for a Thursday night matchup against No. 7 Virginia.
Expect an end-to-end, enthralling 90 minutes of evenly matched teams abundant in tenacity and talent. Regardless of whether you’re a Cavalier or a Blue Devil, enjoy the spectacle; there are sure to be fireworks.
Before this match even started, you could tell there was something different in the air.
Michello Cooper, unmarked, crossed it to enganche Tess Boade, who only needed to adjust the ball’s path for a wide-open goal—Duke’s first against North Carolina in over four years.
Duke comes in ranked fourth in the country while North Carolina checks in at No. 2, and the two will battle Friday night at 7 p.m. in Chapel Hill.
Coming off of its phenomenal win against No. 11 Stanford, No. 5 Duke closed its nonconference schedule without a dent in its undefeated record by demolishing East Carolina 5-0 Thursday night.
Robbie Church has been the head coach of Duke women's soccer for two decades, and has established the Blue Devils as not only a perennial November threat, but the premier tournament team.
Why are these Blue Devils different from all other Blue Devils?
In their biggest test of the season, the Blue Devils secured their lead midway through the second half, and didn’t look back, taking down No. 10 Stanford 2-1 at Koskinen Stadium for their fifth-straight win to start the season—the best start since 2000 and in head coach Robbie Church's tenure.
If this is truly to be Duke’s year, then there’s a decent number of demons it’s going to have to exorcise. Thursday is the first opportunity to put a dent in that list.
After reacquainting themselves with Vanderbilt last season, ending a 19-year gap between matchups but ending in a disappointing Senior Day tie, the Blue Devils came into this one looking to continue its hot start and get a bit of revenge.
After starting classes on Aug. 23, the Blue Devils were ready to blow off some steam against Western Carolina. And they did just that, scoring more goals against the Catamounts than they had in their first two games combined.
Mackenzie Pluck had been here before, and now, past was prologue.
For the first time since March 10, 2020, the fans were back in Durham for a regular season home game. And the Blue Devils delivered.
"[Church] gives us this feeling that we really are a family," centre back Emily Royson said.
