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"I don't think other teams have ever experienced an attacking player like this.”
It’s been a relatively quiet last few games for Cooper, with her last goal coming in Duke’s regular-season finale against Louisville. But against the Red Storm, it was all gas, no brakes from the ACC Freshman of the Year.
The blueprint to flustering Duke has been out for a month: Be physical. Dare the Blue Devils to go through you. Close up space—and if they still get by you, make them feel it. Friday night, Duke tore that blueprint to shreds.
The Blue Devils struck early in this one, waiting until merely the waning minutes of the first half to notch their first score and No. 1 Duke made its way past Memphis 1-0 at Koskinen Stadium Friday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
It took until the last minute for Duke to break through, but when your opponent isn’t scoring, you only need a single goal to win.
The NCAA tournament selection committee revealed the 2021 bracket on Monday, with Duke receiving a 1-seed.
The ACC announced its All-ACC teams Friday afternoon and, to little surprise to anyone, Duke freshman phenom Michelle Cooper led the way.
A lot can change in 13 seconds.
Even before the start of kickoff, the environment was muted—it was a dreary, rainy afternoon with more clouds in the sky than fans in the stands. And while the Blue Devils’ performance mirrored that environment, the talent gap was too much for the Cardinals to overcome, and Duke came out on top with a 1-0 victory Thursday at Lynn Stadium.
With a stunning amount of awareness for anyone, but especially a freshman, Michelle Cooper let the ball roll right past her, where it found a wide-open Tess Boade at the top of the box, who sent a rocket toward the center of the goal.
No. 6 Duke overcame the stylistic choices of the umpires to notch a crucial 1-0 win over No. 15 Notre Dame on Thursday, effectively clinching an ACC tournament berth.
It all comes down to this. After 13 games of mostly elite soccer, the Blue Devils’ tournament prospects come down to just a pair of games.
Last Sunday, In the span of six hours of real time and almost eight of game time, Duke’s hopes went from dour to dire to blight, then rinsed and repeated. Friday, Duke’s visit to Winston-Salem, N.C. was little more than a tune-up.
This one marked Duke’s first victory away from home since their historic win against North Carolina and gave them the three points in the conference standings necessary to get them into the rapidly upcoming ACC Tournament.
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.