Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer versus #19 North Carolina on October 12, 2025 at 1 p.m.
Women's Soccer
vs #19 North Carolina
Sunday, August 29
Nashville, Tenn.
3 P.M.
Duke University
at
Vanderbilt
Blue Devils Head to Nashville for Sunday Showdown with Vanderbilt
8/28/2021 10:40:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Match 4
No. 5 Duke (3-0-0) at Vanderbilt (1-1-1)
Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021 | 3 p.m. ET | SEC Network+
Nashville, Tenn. – Vanderbilt Soccer Complex
NEED TO KNOW
DUKE VS. VANDERBILT
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
LAST TIME OUT: DUKE 6, WESTERN CAROLINA 0
COOPER MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT
For more information on Duke women's soccer, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching 'DukeWSOC.'
#GoDuke
No. 5 Duke (3-0-0) at Vanderbilt (1-1-1)
Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021 | 3 p.m. ET | SEC Network+
Nashville, Tenn. – Vanderbilt Soccer Complex
NEED TO KNOW
- The fifth-ranked Duke women's soccer team faces its first road test of the 2021 season when it travels to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Vanderbilt on Sunday, Aug. 29.
- The match kicks off at 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT) and will stream live on SEC Network+ with Kevin Ingram on the call.
- Duke opened its season by sweeping a three-game home stand that included two wins over ranked opponents. The Blue Devils are coming off a 6-0 win over Western Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 26.
- Freshman Michelle Cooper is the fourth player in program history to score in each of her first three career matches.
- Cooper is currently tied for first in the ACC in goals (4) and tied for second in points (8). Her 18 shots lead the league.
- Mackenzie Pluck opened her senior season with goals in each of Duke's first two wins, including the game-winner in the 88th minute against Washington.
- The 2021 campaign marks the 34th season in program history and the 21st in Durham for head coach Robbie Church, where he has won 259 games and led the Blue Devils to three NCAA College Cup appearances.
- Duke put together a 12-5-4 record in an unprecedented 2020-21 season that featured the first spring matches in program history. The Blue Devils advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in the last 10 years, becoming one of just three programs nationally to do so.
- Duke returns 20 letterwinners and nine starters from last season's team. Each of the three 2020-21 team captains -- Tess Boade, Caitlin Cosme and Lily Nabet -- are using their additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic and have enrolled in graduate school at Duke.
- The 2021 roster is highlighted by five seniors -- Delaney Graham, Marykate McGuire, Mackenzie Pluck, Sydney Simmons and Holly Stam.
DUKE VS. VANDERBILT
- Duke and Vanderbilt square off for the second consecutive season and the 10th time in each program's history, with the Blue Devils leading the all-time series 5-3-1.
- The two teams battled to a 0-0 draw after 110 minutes of play on April 11, 2021 in Durham. The match was the last action Duke saw before the NCAA Tournament and served as Senior Day for the Blue Devils.
- Prior to the 2021 clash at Koskinen Stadium, Duke and Vanderbilt had not faced one another since Nov. 3, 2001, marking a gap of over 19 years between matchups.
- The series featured eight matches from 1991-2001, with the Blue Devils winning four consecutive bouts before the Commodores collected back-to-back wins in 1996 and 2000.
- Duke is 36-19-8 all-time against opponents from the SEC, including a 1-0 win over Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 on May 5.
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
- Vanderbilt brings a 1-1-1 record into Sunday's match and is coming off a narrow 3-2 loss in overtime at Western Kentucky on Thursday, Aug. 26.
- The Commodores were ranked 18th in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and opened the season with a 1-0 win over Tennessee Tech before drawing 1-1 against Purdue.
- Sophomore Abi Brighton leads the team offensively with two goals for four points through three matches.
- Peyton Cutshall has been active in the attacking third to start her senior campaign, netting one goal on 14 shot attempts (six on target).
- Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Devine has started all three matches, logging 300 minutes on the young season. She has recorded six saves to four goals allowed while facing 19 total shot attempts.
- Last season's Vanderbilt squad entered the SEC Tournament in November as the No. 7 seed before rattling off four straight wins to capture its first conference title since 1994.
- The Commodores were the No. 16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and fell to Penn State, 2-0, in the second round.
LAST TIME OUT: DUKE 6, WESTERN CAROLINA 0
- Duke wrapped up its three-game home stand to open the season with a dominant 6-0 win over Western Carolina on Thursday, Aug. 26 at Koskinen Stadium.
- The Blue Devils took a 2-0 lead into halftime with both goals scored by Michelle Cooper on assists from Tess Boade.
- A four-goal second half was highlighted by junior Emmy Duerr, who netted two in a row for her first tallies since the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
- Senior Marykate McGuire and sophomore Grace Watkins both came off the bench to record their first goal of the season, helping Duke pull away early in the second half.
- In just her second career appearance, junior Julia Burnell dished out two assists -- first to McGuire at the 49:50 mark and then on Duerr's first strike at 61:59.
- Cooper and Duerr's pair marked the first time multiple Blue Devils scored twice in the same game since Oct. 13, 2019, when McGuire and Mackenzie Pluck did so against Clemson.
- Graduate student Maddie Nielsen and junior Bria Schrotenboer made their Duke debuts while freshman Kelly Wilson made her collegiate debut, playing 25 minutes in the second half.
COOPER MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT
- Freshman Michelle Cooper scored Duke's opening goal in each of its first three games while displaying her offensive capabilities on multiple runs.
- In the season-opening win over Arkansas, she took a pass from Maggie Graham in the midfield and fired a right-footed shot from 25 yards out past the Razorback goalkeeper, knotting the score at 1-1 in the 39th minute.
- She followed up her debut performance by breaking a scoreless tie in the 53rd minute versus Washington, bursting up the left side past a defender and placing her shot into the lower right corner.
- The Clarkston, Mich., native netted two more in the first half against Western Carolina (8/26), with both goals coming off shots from long range.
- Each of Duke's three goals in the first half of games this season have been scored by Cooper.
- With her brace in the win over WCU, she became the fourth player in program history to score in each of her first three career games and the first to do so since Casey McCluskey in 2001.
- Cooper currently ranks tied for first in the ACC in goals (4) and tied for second in points (8), while leading the conference with 18 shots.
- A high school All-American at IMG Academy, Cooper arrived at Duke as the No. 18 overall player and No. 5 forward in the TopDrawerSoccer.com class of 2021 rankings.
For more information on Duke women's soccer, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching 'DukeWSOC.'
#GoDuke
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