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7 p.m.
Women's Soccer
at Virginia
Thursday, August 25
Knoxville, Tenn.
7 P.M.
Duke University
3-0-0, 0-0-0
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Tennessee
0-2-1, 0-0-0
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Duke
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Tennessee
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Photo by: Tennessee
Three Second Half Goals Lead No. 5 Duke Past No. 22 Tennessee
8/25/2022 11:19:00 PM | Women's Soccer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Behind three second-half goals, the fifth-ranked Duke women's soccer team came-from-behind to defeat 22nd-ranked Tennessee, 3-2, on Thursday evening at Regal Soccer Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Blue Devils (3-0) fell behind, 2-0, in the second half and battled back to score three goals in 11 minutes and 15 seconds late to get the victory over the Lady Vols (0-2-1).
How It Happened
• Both teams were in a defensive battle for the first 26 minutes that featured only two shots. Duke's lone attempt came off the foot of sophomore Michelle Cooper.
• Tennessee broke the scoreless contest at the 26:33 mark as Maria Nelson sent a cross in from the right side of the pitch and Jaida Thomas was able to slide a shot just under the hands of a diving Duke goalkeeper, Ruthie Jones, to give Tennessee a 1-0 lead.
• With just under seven minutes left in the first half, freshman Kat Rader had Duke's best attempt of the first that was saved by Lady Vol keeper, Lindsey Romig, after Maggie Graham found Rader in front of the goal.
• Cooper had a good look at the 40:44 mark off a long feed from Jenna Royson, but the attempt went high over the crossbar.
• At the half, both teams featured five shots each with Cooper taking three for the Blue Devils
• Tennessee went ahead 2-0 at the 51:14 mark as Claire Rain crossed to Taylor Huff, who headed in the goal past Jones.
• Duke got on the board at the 69:17 mark as Mackenzie Pluck sent in a corner kick to the head of Katie Groff, who headed the ball toward the goal where freshman Kat Rader redirected towards the goal line and Sophie Jones punched in her second goal of the season.
• Less than three minutes later Cooper won a sprint to the ball with a Lady Vol goalkeeper and the Duke forward was able to punch the ball into the back of the net too even the score, 2-2, at the 72:12 mark.
• The Blue Devils got the equalizer at the 80:32 mark as Cooper fired a long feed from midfield to a streaking Delaney Graham. After driving into the box, Graham placed a perfect pass to Rader, who finished her first career goal.
Notes
• Duke outshot Tennessee, 8-4, in the second half and 13-9 for the match.
• Cooper has now registered a point in 16-of-20 career matches.
• The assists by Rader and Groff were the first of their careers.
• Rader's first collegiate goal was also the game-winner for the Blue Devils.
• Duke has won 10 out of its last 12 road contests and are 12-4-1 in the last 17 road matches.
• Opened the 2022 season with a 3-0 record for the second straight year and third time since 2011.
Quotes
"It is a great win. We have to build on it and we have to take care of business on Sunday night. We have a big schedule coming up starting with Sunday, but we are really, really happy with this win."
"Once the goal was scored, I thought we did a really good job of settling down and taking it to them. We had two really good opportunities before halftime. We started short passing and changing the point of attack. We found space and started to attack them at that point. I felt good at halftime and knew the goals were coming. A win like this will go a long, long ways, but we still have a lot of work to do." – Duke head coach Robbie Church
Next Match
The Blue Devils will return home to Koskinen Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 28 as Duke hosts Charlotte at 6 p.m., live on ACC Network Extra.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".
#GoDuke
The Blue Devils (3-0) fell behind, 2-0, in the second half and battled back to score three goals in 11 minutes and 15 seconds late to get the victory over the Lady Vols (0-2-1).
BLUE DEVILS TAKE THE LEAD!!!
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) August 26, 2022
First goal of the season for Kat Rader & quite timely!
Hold on, folks. Nine minutes to go here in Knoxville ??
?? SEC Network pic.twitter.com/5UIZQCSqvs
How It Happened
• Both teams were in a defensive battle for the first 26 minutes that featured only two shots. Duke's lone attempt came off the foot of sophomore Michelle Cooper.
• Tennessee broke the scoreless contest at the 26:33 mark as Maria Nelson sent a cross in from the right side of the pitch and Jaida Thomas was able to slide a shot just under the hands of a diving Duke goalkeeper, Ruthie Jones, to give Tennessee a 1-0 lead.
• With just under seven minutes left in the first half, freshman Kat Rader had Duke's best attempt of the first that was saved by Lady Vol keeper, Lindsey Romig, after Maggie Graham found Rader in front of the goal.
• Cooper had a good look at the 40:44 mark off a long feed from Jenna Royson, but the attempt went high over the crossbar.
• At the half, both teams featured five shots each with Cooper taking three for the Blue Devils
• Tennessee went ahead 2-0 at the 51:14 mark as Claire Rain crossed to Taylor Huff, who headed in the goal past Jones.
• Duke got on the board at the 69:17 mark as Mackenzie Pluck sent in a corner kick to the head of Katie Groff, who headed the ball toward the goal where freshman Kat Rader redirected towards the goal line and Sophie Jones punched in her second goal of the season.
• Less than three minutes later Cooper won a sprint to the ball with a Lady Vol goalkeeper and the Duke forward was able to punch the ball into the back of the net too even the score, 2-2, at the 72:12 mark.
• The Blue Devils got the equalizer at the 80:32 mark as Cooper fired a long feed from midfield to a streaking Delaney Graham. After driving into the box, Graham placed a perfect pass to Rader, who finished her first career goal.
And here it is! ?? pic.twitter.com/ODAC98yYcE
— Duke Women's Soccer (@DukeWSOC) August 26, 2022
Notes
• Duke outshot Tennessee, 8-4, in the second half and 13-9 for the match.
• Cooper has now registered a point in 16-of-20 career matches.
• The assists by Rader and Groff were the first of their careers.
• Rader's first collegiate goal was also the game-winner for the Blue Devils.
• Duke has won 10 out of its last 12 road contests and are 12-4-1 in the last 17 road matches.
• Opened the 2022 season with a 3-0 record for the second straight year and third time since 2011.
Quotes
"It is a great win. We have to build on it and we have to take care of business on Sunday night. We have a big schedule coming up starting with Sunday, but we are really, really happy with this win."
"Once the goal was scored, I thought we did a really good job of settling down and taking it to them. We had two really good opportunities before halftime. We started short passing and changing the point of attack. We found space and started to attack them at that point. I felt good at halftime and knew the goals were coming. A win like this will go a long, long ways, but we still have a lot of work to do." – Duke head coach Robbie Church
Next Match
The Blue Devils will return home to Koskinen Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 28 as Duke hosts Charlotte at 6 p.m., live on ACC Network Extra.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".
#GoDuke
Team Stats
DUKE
TENN
Goals
3
2
Shots
13
9
Shots on Goal
6
4
Saves
1
3
Corners
5
1
Fouls
4
6
Scoring Plays
Jaida Thomas (2)
Assisted By: Maria Nelson , Tara Katz
GOAL by TENN Thomas, Jaida Assist by Nelson, Maria and Katz, Tara.
26:33
Taylor Huff (1)
Assisted By: Claire Rain
GOAL by TENN Huff, Taylor Assist by Rain, Claire.
51:14
Sophie Jones (2)
Assisted By: Kat Rader , Katie Groff
GOAL by DUKE Jones, Sophie Assist by Rader, Kat and Groff, Katie.
69:17
Michelle Cooper (1)
GOAL by DUKE Cooper, Michelle.
72:12
Kat Rader (1)
Assisted By: Delaney Graham , Michelle Cooper
GOAL by DUKE Rader, Kat Assist by Graham, Delaney and Cooper, Michelle.
80:32
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
5
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's SoccerD
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's SoccerM
/ Women's Soccer
M
/ Women's Soccer
D
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