# 2021 Duke Blue Devils women's soccer team

The 2021 Duke Blue Devils women's soccer team represented Duke University during the 2021 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Blue Devils were led by head coach Robbie Church, in his twenty-first season. They played home games at Koskinen Stadium. This was the team's 34th season playing organized women's college soccer and their 34th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Blue Devils finished the season with a 16–4–1 record, 7–2–1 in ACC play to finish in third place. The lost in the First Round of the ACC Tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they were awarded one of the top four seeds. They defeated Old Dominion in the First Round, Memphis in the Second Round, and St. John's in the Round of 16 before losing to Santa Clara in the Semifinals to end their season.

## Previous season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACC played a reduced schedule in 2020 and the NCAA Tournament was postponed to 2021. The ACC did not play a spring league schedule, but did allow teams to play non-conference games that would count toward their 2020 record in the lead up to the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils finished the fall season 7–4–2, 4–2–2 in ACC play to finish in sixth place. As the fifth seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated Clemson before losing to eventual champions Florida State in the Semifinals. The Blue Devils finished the spring season 3–1–1 and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the tournament, they defeated Arizona State in the Second Round and Ole Miss in the Third Round before losing to Florida State in the Quarterfinals, on penalties to end their season.

## Squad
### Roster

    As of September 10, 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Maddie Nielsen |
| 3 | DF | SEN | Dieynaba Ndaw |
| 4 | DF | USA | Baleigh Bruster |
| 5 | MF | USA | Sarah Piper |
| 6 | DF | USA | Caitlin Cosme |
| 7 | MF | USA | Sophie Jones |
| 8 | FW | USA | Tess Boade |
| 9 | FW | USA | Grace Watkins |
| 10 | FW | USA | Olivia Migli |
| 11 | MF | USA | Julia Burnell |
| 12 | FW | USA | Marykate McGuire |
| 13 | FW | USA | Emmy Duerr |
| 14 | MF | USA | Julia Hannon |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | USA | Emily Royson |
| 16 | MF | USA | Sydney Simmons |
| 17 | DF | USA | Nicole Chico |
| 18 | FW | USA | Michelle Cooper |
| 19 | MF | USA | Maggie Graham |
| 20 | DF | USA | Kelly Wilson |
| 21 | DF | USA | Katie Groff |
| 22 | DF | USA | Delaney Graham |
| 23 | GK | USA | Holly Stam |
| 24 | MF | USA | Mackenzie Pluck |
| 26 | GK | USA | Ruthie Jones |
| 27 | DF | USA | Bria Schrotenboer |
| 28 | MF | USA | Lily Nabet |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Head Coach | Robbie Church |
| Assistant Coach | Kieran Hall |
| Assistant Coach | Carla Overbeck |
| Assistant Coach | Lane Davis |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 10* 6:00 p.m. | No. 6 | Georgia | W 2–0 | – | Koskinen Stadium Durham, NC |
| August 13* 6:00 p.m. | No. 6 | at No. 7 Clemson | W 3–1 | – | Riggs Field Clemson, SC |
| Non-Conference Regular season ||||||
| August 19* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 6 | No. 13 Arkansas | W 3–1 | 1–0–0 | Koskinen Stadium (589) Durham, NC |
| August 22* Noon, ACCNX | No. 6 | No. 19 Washington | W 2–1 | 2–0–0 | Koskinen Stadium (447) Durham, NC |
| August 26* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | Western Carolina | W 6–0 | 3–0–0 | Koskinen Stadium (560) Durham, NC |
| August 29* 3:00 p.m., SECN+ | No. 5 | at Vanderbilt | W 2–0 | 4–0–0 | Vanderbilt Soccer Complex (572) Nashville, TN |
| September 2* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | No. 10 Stanford | W 2–1 | 5–0–0 | Koskinen Stadium (1,189) Durham, NC |
| September 9* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | East Carolina | W 5–0 | 6–0–0 | Koskinen Stadium (603) Durham, NC |
| ACC Regular season ||||||
| September 17 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | at No. 2 North Carolina Rivalry | W 1–0 | 7–0–0 (1–0–0) | Dorrance Field (5,301) Chapel Hill, NC |
| September 23 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 2 | at No. 7 Virginia | L 0–1 | 7–1–0 (1–1–0) | Klöckner Stadium (1,911) Charlottesville, VA |
| September 26 5:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 2 | at Virginia Tech | T 1–1 $^{2OT}$ | 7–1–1 (1–1–1) | Thompson Field (923) Blackburg, VA |
| October 2 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | Syracuse | W 2–0 | 8–1–1 (2–1–1) | Koskinen Stadium (784) Durham, NC |
| October 7 6:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 4 | NC State | L 1–2 $^{2OT}$ | 8–2–1 (2–2–1) | Koskinen Stadium (626) Durham, NC |
| October 10 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | Pittsburgh | W 5–0 | 9–2–1 (3–2–1) | Koskinen Stadium (555) Durham, NC |
| October 15 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 8 | at Wake Forest | W 2–0 | 10–2–1 (4–2–1) | Spry Stadium (1,152) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 21 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 6 | No. 15 Notre Dame | W 1–0 $^{OT}$ | 11–2–1 (5–2–1) | Koskinen Stadium (704) Durham, NC |
| October 24 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 6 | No. 1 Florida State | W 1–0 | 12–2–1 (6–2–1) | Koskinen Stadium (1,731) Durham, NC |
| October 28 5:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 2 | at Louisville | W 1–0 | 13–2–1 (7–2–1) | Lynn Stadium (304) Louisville, KY |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| October 31 8:00 p.m., ACCN | (3) No. 2 | (6) Wake Forest First Round | L 1–2 | 13–3–1 | Koskinen Stadium (532) Durham, NC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 12 6:00 p.m. | (1) No. 4 | Old Dominion First Round | W 1–0 | 14–3–1 | Koskinen Stadium (937) Durham, NC |
| November 19 6:30 p.m., ACCNX | (1) No. 4 | No. 18 Memphis Second Round | W 1–0 | 15–3–1 | Koskinen Stadium (3,595) Durham, NC |
| November 21 6:00 p.m. | (1) No. 4 | St. John's Round of 16 | W 7–1 | 16–3–1 | Koskinen Stadium (1,014) Durham, NC |
| November 26 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | (1) No. 4 | No. 12 Santa Clara Quarterfinals | L 1–2 | 16–4–1 | Koskinen Stadium (1,031) Durham, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Delaney Graham | Preseason All-ACC Team | August 12 |
| Sophie Jones | Preseason All-ACC Team | August 12 |
| Sophie Jones | Preseason Hermann Trophy Watchlist | August 19 |
| Tess Boade | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | September 21 |
| Ruthie Jones | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | September 21 |
| Tess Boade | ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week | October 26 |
| Emily Royson | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | October 26 |
| Michelle Cooper | ACC Freshman of the Year | November 4 |
| Tess Boade | All-ACC First Team | November 4 |
| Michelle Cooper | All-ACC First Team | November 4 |
| Ruthie Jones | All-ACC First Team | November 4 |
| Sophie Jones | All-ACC Second Team | November 4 |
| Michelle Cooper | ACC All-Freshman Team | November 4 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 2 (2) | 6 | 4 | Not released | Not released | Not released | 5 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 6 |

## 2022 NWSL Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Caitlin Cosme | Orlando Pride | 1 | 10 | DF |
| Lily Nabet | Angel City FC | 3 | 36 | MF |
Source: