Pluck’s Goal in 88th Minute Lifts Duke Past Huskies, 2-1

Sunday, August 22

Durham, N.C.

12 p.m.

Duke University

2-0-0, 0-0-0

Washington

0-2-0, 0-0-0

Washington

Duke

Pluck’s Goal in 88th Minute Lifts Duke Past Huskies, 2-1

8/22/2021 4:35:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score ROBBIE CHURCH POSTGAME MACKENZIE PLUCK POSTGAME KATIE GROFF POSTGAME

DURHAM – Senior Mackenzie Pluck scored at the 87:37 mark of regulation to give No. 6 Duke a 2-1 win over No. 19 Washington on Sunday at Koskinen Stadium.

Pluck was fed a through pass from freshman Michelle Cooper inside the 18-yard box and tried to chip the ball past Washington goalkeeper Olivia Sekany, who came charging out to stop the attempt. The rebound fell to Pluck's feet, and the North Wales, Pa., native calmly turned and fired a left-footed strike into the open net to lift the Blue Devils to a thrilling victory.

Duke (2-0-0) picked up its second straight win over a ranked opponent to open the 2021 season, sweeping the two-game Carolina Nike Classic.

"I'm really impressed with this group to give up a goal, come back and get a goal," head coach Robbie Church said. "The goals we scored were beautiful – nice runs, good slip balls, nice finishes with good balance in there. We've scored five goals in two games against nationally ranked teams, but we've given up too many goals. We've got work to do. Just because we're 2-0 against nationally ranked teams – we've got work to do. We've got to get better and we've got to handle these situations."

Pluck was aggressive offensively from the start and finished with a career-high five shots on net. She now has goals in back-to-back games – with each coming at timely moments in the second half – after scoring a combined two goals in her previous 22 appearances.

After a scoreless first half in which the Blue Devils outshot the Huskies 7-5, Duke struck first in the 53rd minute on Cooper's second tally of the season. The speedy forward accepted a ball played by Pluck up the left side and raced past the Washington defender before burying a shot into the lower right corner to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.

Cooper was fierce on the attack again for Duke, attempting five shots with two on target.

Duke controlled much of the play in the latter stages of the second half and appeared to have a 1-0 victory in hand, but the Huskies (0-2-0) were able to find the equalizer on Summer Yates' goal at the 80:47 mark. Yates saw the ball played around the top of the box before landing at her left foot, and she sent a hard shot just past the outstretched right arm of Ruthie Jones to bring Washington level.

Pluck's goal in the 88th minute was the 15th of her career and her fifth game-winning marker. Her hot start to the season marks the third time in her career that she has scored in consecutive matches.

Jones finished with three saves on the day, including a key stop in the 71st minute to maintain the 1-0 Duke advantage. The junior from Charlotte, N.C., now has 17 saves in her last five matches dating back to the 2021 NCAA Tournament in May.

The Blue Devils will remain in the friendly confines of Koskinen Stadium when they host Western Carolina (0-1-0) on Thursday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m.

NOTES

The 2021 season marks the 21st at Duke for head coach Robbie Church, where he is now 258-131-59.
Duke's 2-0 record marks the 20th time in program history and the 10th time under Church that the Blue Devils opened a season with back-to-back wins.
With her second goal in as many games this season, Michelle Cooper became the seventh player in program history to score in her first two career starts. The last freshman to do so was Taylor Racioppi in 2015.
Mackenzie Pluck's performance marked the sixth time in her career that she recorded a goal and an assist in the same game.
Sunday's match was the first between Duke and Washington since Sept. 6, 2002. The Blue Devils and Huskies are now tied 2-2 in their all-time series.