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Women's Soccer
vs North Carolina
Thursday, August 19
Durham, N.C.
7 p.m.
Duke University
3
vs
1
Arkansas
No. 6 Duke Opens Season With 3-1 Win Over No. 13 Arkansas
8/19/2021 11:36:00 PM | Women's Soccer
DURHAM – Graduate student Tess Boade and senior Mackenzie Pluck converted penalty kicks two minutes apart in the second half to lift No. 6 Duke to a 3-1 win over No. 13 Arkansas in the season-opener Thursday night at Koskinen Stadium.
After a back-and-forth battle through the first 47 minutes, Pluck accepted a through ball feed into the 18-yard box and sprinted towards goal before being brought down by a Razorback defender, earning a penalty kick for Duke. Boade calmly sent her attempt from the spot into the lower left corner of the net, breaking the tie and claiming momentum for the Blue Devils the rest of the way.
Shortly after in the 50th minute, Pluck once again was brought to the ground inside the box and was rewarded with a PK attempt of her own. The North Wales, Pa., native drilled her shot into the right corner past Arkansas goalkeeper Hannah Warner, giving the Blue Devils a two-goal cushion that they would not relinquish.
Duke (1-0-0) earned its fourth consecutive win in a season opener and took the first of two matches in the Carolina Nike Classic in front of a full Koskinen Stadium crowd.
"We had a really good crowd," head coach Robbie Church said. "It was fantastic to hear them behind us. We had families here supporting. It's great to be back and hopefully things will continue, but we'll take it one game at a time. We were very happy. We had a big time performance today. They're a really good team deserving of their national ranking, and we played well."
The Razorbacks (0-1-0) struck first at the 20:15 mark, as the ball bounced through multiple players before finding the right foot of Parker Goins, who fired a shot past Ruthie Jones and under the crossbar. Arkansas was aggressive offensively throughout the first half and went into the locker room with three shots and two on goal.
The first half saw a high level of physicality from both sides, as the Razorbacks committed six fouls while Duke was tagged for five. Five yellow cards were given in the opening 45 minutes, with four handed out to Arkansas.
Duke found its equalizer in the 39th minute on freshman Michelle Cooper's first career goal. The dynamic forward from Clarkston, Mich., was played a ball from sophomore Maggie Graham in the midfield before dribbling it into the attacking third and firing one from just outside the box. Warner got a piece of the shot with her outstretched right hand, but it was not enough as the ball trickled past the goal line to make it a 1-1 game.
The Blue Devils did not sit back after extending their lead to two in the second half, and instead continued to pepper the Arkansas net with shot attempts. Duke finished the night with 19 shots, 10 on net, and strung together several impressive passing buildups.
Jones collected one save in a full 90 minutes of work and picked up her 12th career win.
Duke faces a quick turnaround before hosting 19th-ranked Washington in its second match of the Carolina Nike Classic on Sunday at 12 p.m. The Huskies fell to No. 3 North Carolina on Thursday night, 4-1, in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Notes
#GoDuke
After a back-and-forth battle through the first 47 minutes, Pluck accepted a through ball feed into the 18-yard box and sprinted towards goal before being brought down by a Razorback defender, earning a penalty kick for Duke. Boade calmly sent her attempt from the spot into the lower left corner of the net, breaking the tie and claiming momentum for the Blue Devils the rest of the way.
Shortly after in the 50th minute, Pluck once again was brought to the ground inside the box and was rewarded with a PK attempt of her own. The North Wales, Pa., native drilled her shot into the right corner past Arkansas goalkeeper Hannah Warner, giving the Blue Devils a two-goal cushion that they would not relinquish.
Duke (1-0-0) earned its fourth consecutive win in a season opener and took the first of two matches in the Carolina Nike Classic in front of a full Koskinen Stadium crowd.
"We had a really good crowd," head coach Robbie Church said. "It was fantastic to hear them behind us. We had families here supporting. It's great to be back and hopefully things will continue, but we'll take it one game at a time. We were very happy. We had a big time performance today. They're a really good team deserving of their national ranking, and we played well."
The Razorbacks (0-1-0) struck first at the 20:15 mark, as the ball bounced through multiple players before finding the right foot of Parker Goins, who fired a shot past Ruthie Jones and under the crossbar. Arkansas was aggressive offensively throughout the first half and went into the locker room with three shots and two on goal.
The first half saw a high level of physicality from both sides, as the Razorbacks committed six fouls while Duke was tagged for five. Five yellow cards were given in the opening 45 minutes, with four handed out to Arkansas.
Duke found its equalizer in the 39th minute on freshman Michelle Cooper's first career goal. The dynamic forward from Clarkston, Mich., was played a ball from sophomore Maggie Graham in the midfield before dribbling it into the attacking third and firing one from just outside the box. Warner got a piece of the shot with her outstretched right hand, but it was not enough as the ball trickled past the goal line to make it a 1-1 game.
The Blue Devils did not sit back after extending their lead to two in the second half, and instead continued to pepper the Arkansas net with shot attempts. Duke finished the night with 19 shots, 10 on net, and strung together several impressive passing buildups.
Jones collected one save in a full 90 minutes of work and picked up her 12th career win.
Duke faces a quick turnaround before hosting 19th-ranked Washington in its second match of the Carolina Nike Classic on Sunday at 12 p.m. The Huskies fell to No. 3 North Carolina on Thursday night, 4-1, in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Notes
- The 2021 season marks the 21st at Duke for head coach Robbie Church, where he is now 257-131-59.
- The Blue Devils have won each of their last four season openers and are 17-3-1 in season openers under Church.
- Cooper becomes the 18th Blue Devil to score in her first career start and the first since Ella Stevens in 2016.
- Boade and Pluck's penalty kick goals marked the first career regulation penalty attempt for both players.
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Soccer
F
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's Soccer
M
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