Blue Devils Roll Past East Carolina, 5-0

Thursday, September 9

Durham, N.C.

7 p.m.

Duke University

6-0-0, 0-0-0

East Carolina

4-3-0, 0-0-0

East Carolina

Duke

Blue Devils Roll Past East Carolina, 5-0

9/9/2021 11:21:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score ROBBIE CHURCH POSTGAME MARYKATE MCGUIRE POSTGAME BALEIGH BRUSTER POSTGAME

DURHAM – No. 5 Duke scored four goals in the first half and added another in the second in a 5-0 win over East Carolina on Thursday night at Koskinen Stadium.

The Blue Devils grabbed a commanding early lead with a pair of goals in the opening 10 minutes and controlled the pace the rest of the way to improve to 6-0-0 on the season. With ACC play up next, Duke finished off its non-conference schedule with zero losses and zero ties for the first time in program history.

"I thought we started off really well," head coach Robbie Church said. "I thought we had some good combinations in the first half, and we had some good goals in the first half. But I didn't think we were at full capacity in the first half – I actually thought we played better in the second half and only scored one goal, but that's how the game goes. I think we really stepped it up in the second half."

Duke finished the night with 24 shots – 10 of which were on goal – while limiting the ECU (4-3-0) offense to three attempts.

Senior Mackenzie Pluck got the Blue Devils rolling early with her fourth goal of the season at the 4:57 mark. Graduate student Tess Boade started the play by feeding a pass to freshman Michelle Cooper, who quickly played it through to sophomore Emily Royson up the left side. Royson made her way into the 18-yard box and centered it for an approaching Pluck, who buried her left-footed strike and gave Duke its quickest goal of the season.

The dynamic combination of Pluck and Cooper followed up shortly after, as Pluck played a long through ball to try and catch Cooper behind the Pirates' defense. The freshman from Clarkston, Mich., was able to beat ECU goalkeeper Maeve English to the ball and chipped a shot into the open net for her sixth tally of the season.

Senior Marykate McGuire made it a 3-0 game in the 41st minute, as she accepted a pass from sophomore Grace Watkins inside the box before turning and firing a precise strike into the lower left corner of the net.

The fourth Duke tally came via another beautiful shot off a free kick from graduate student Caitlin Cosme. One week after her seeing-eye strike lifted the Blue Devils past 10th-ranked Stanford, Cosme followed up with perhaps an even better shot in the 43rd minute. With the ball placed five yards outside the box, she drilled her attempt off the upper-left portion of the crossbar and in, giving Duke its most goals in an opening half since it netted five against Coastal Carolina on March 17, 2021.

The Pirates sent two shots towards goal in the first half, with both corralled by junior Ruthie Jones. Jones has now allowed just one goal in her last 219 minutes of play while recording eight saves in that span. She was subbed off in the 76th minute for graduate transfer Maddie Nielsen, who made her first save as a member of the Blue Devils.

McGuire found the back of the net again in the second half, this time off a Watkins corner kick in the 88th minute. Watkins played it to the near post and McGuire was able to work herself free, heading the ball across goal and into the lower left corner. The Portsmouth, R.I., native now has three goals in six games this season, matching her total in 21 appearances a year ago.

Next up for Duke is a top-five road test to open ACC play, as the Blue Devils make the short trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on No. 2 North Carolina on Friday, Sept. 17. First kick is set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra

NOTES

The 2021 season marks the 21st at Duke for head coach Robbie Church, where he is now 262-131-59.
With the win, Duke improved to 6-0-0 for the second time in program history and the first time under Church. The 2000 Blue Devils put together a program-record 8-0-0 start.
Duke wrapped up its non-conference slate with zero losses and zero ties for the first time in program history. The Blue Devils went 6-0-1 in 2005, tying William & Mary, and opened the 2017 season with a 7-1-0 non-conference mark.
The Blue Devils have outscored their opponents 8-1 in the first half of games this season and 12-2 in the second half.
Michelle Cooper's sixth tally of the season in the eighth minute marks the most goals by any player in program history through their first six career games. She also has the most goals by a Blue Devil freshman through their first six career starts.
Sophomore Emily Royson has two assists in her last two matches, tying the total from her first 22 career appearances.
Graduate student Caitlin Cosme has goals in back-to-back matches for the second time in her career. She opened the 2020-21 campaign with a goal in each of Duke's first two games.
Senior Marykate McGuire recorded the third multi-goal game of her career. She netted two in a win over Clemson on Oct. 13, 2019, and in Duke's season-opening victory at Wake Forest on Sept. 10, 2020.
Sophomore Grace Watkins recorded her first two career assists.
Ruthie Jones collected two saves in goal and improved to 9-0-2 over her last 11 starts dating back to April 2, 2021. The junior from Charlotte, N.C., has 28 saves to just four goals allowed in that stretch.
Freshman Dieynaba Ndaw made her regular season career debut, playing 11 minutes in the second half.