There’s a pretty interesting football story going on at Duke. It might even become a compelling story; that’s to be determined.
It’s not that football. It’s the one we call soccer but the rest of the world calls football; or futbol if you prefer.
Some backstory. Robbie Church is an English native and graduated from Queen’s Park High School in Chester, England, about 200 miles northwest of London. He came to the US to play at tiny Pfeiffer College, in Miseheimer, North Carolina.
It’s a pretty small stage to begin a US soccer career. Church may have a chance to go out on a much bigger stage.
Church came to Duke from Vanderbilt in 2001, replacing Bill Hempen as the head coach of the Duke women’s soccer team. Church is only the second head coach in program history.
Despite the looming shadow of Anson Dorrance’s UNC powerhouse eight miles down the road, Church put together a pretty good program. Duke made the NCAA Tournament his first year at the helm, made the round of 16 in 2004, the quarterfinals in 2007 and 2008 and the national title game in 2011. But Duke lost that game 1-0 to Stanford and fell to Penn State in the 2015 title game by the same score. Duke hasn’t made it back that far since, not even 2017, when Duke didn’t allow a single goal in five NCAA Tournament games. That season ended in the semifinals in PKs after Duke and UCLA played 110 scoreless minutes.
Duke had the nation’s best player in 2022, Hermann Award winner Michelle Cooper. But despite Cooper’s brilliance--19 goals and 11 assists in 23 games--Duke fell to Alabama in the quarterfinals, a 3-2 loss in double overtime in which Cooper scored both goals.
Cooper went pro after 2022-she plays for the Kansas City Current of the NWSL-and Duke floundered last season. The Blue Devils scored a meager 15 goals on the season, four less than Cooper tallied by herself the previous season. Duke struggled against more athletic, more physical teams, finished 6-7-3 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.
Maybe the game had passed by Church.
Or maybe not. Duke followed that 2014 season by advancing to the 2015 title game, increasing its win total from eight to 14.
Is a repeat in the offing?
TBD. But this is Church’s last go-around. Before the season started he announced he would retire following the conclusion of the season.
Assistant coach Kieran Hall will replace Church.
Duke lost its opening game 1-0 to Ohio State, on the road.
A lame-duck coach with no offense.
Not so fast. Duke hit the transfer portal hard after 2023, bringing in Mia Oliaro from UNC of all places, Farrah Walters from Santa Clara, Hannah Bebar from Harvard and Ella Hasse from Northwestern. A talented freshman class hit the ground running, while numerous returnees upped their game.
Duke started winning. And winning. Nine straight and counting. Duke has done this despite losing several key players to injuries, including 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year Kat Rader, lost for the season to a leg injury. Passing is crisp, defense is suffocating and scorers are finishing opportunities.
And the depth. Through 10 games no fewer than 12 Blue Devils have posted a goal. Holdovers Maggie Graham and Mia Minestrella lead Duke with five goals apiece, while another holdover, Devin Lynch leads Duke with six assists.
But it’s the defense that has opened eyes. Duke has allowed four goals through 10 games and had five consecutive shutouts. Goalie Leah Freeman has saved 83% of the shots on goal against her.
Duke defeated North Carolina 1-0, Duke’s first ever win over the Tar Heels at Koskinen.
It was a non-conference game.
The Blue Devils reached the top spot in this week’s United Soccer Coach’s poll. It’s the first No. 1 ranking in Church’s tenure.
Holding on to that spot is going to be a tough ask. The ACC is to college soccer what the SEC is to college football. Following Duke in this week’s national poll are UNC (2), Wake Forest (3), Stanford (7), Notre Dame (13), California (17), Virginia Tech (21), Florida State (22) and Virginia (25).
Duke is hitting the road for a west coast trip that will test their mettle, Stanford on Thursday, Cal on Sunday. Stanford was ranked no. 1 until they lost to Wake Forest.
“It will be different,” Church says, “but I think we’ll embrace it. We look forward to playing really good teams because that will make us better.”
Once Duke gets back to the eastern time zone, a road trip to Wake awaits Duke, as does one to UNC.
That’s right, Duke still has road games remaining against four ranked teams, three of them top-seven teams. Boston College and Notre Dame are still to visit Koskinen.
Only six teams make the ACC Tournament. That would be three less than the number of ACC teams currently ranked nationally.
The ACC Tournament semifinals and championship games are in Cary.
“They’re confident, they believe in themselves and they’re composed in the scoring areas.” Church says. “What I love about it is that we’re spreading those things [scoring] out. We’re pretty dangerous. We can keep the ball and play through the middle, we can score from the wings, we can strike from many different areas.
“This team wants to be great. They don’t want to be good, they want to be great. They put the work in. They’re very focused and they’re very confident.”
Will that be enough to bring home the program’s first national title?
Thanks for talking about soccer!
These women are impressive to watch! Great effort and togetherness.