No. 2 Duke Falls, 2-1, to No. 3 UCLA at Koskinen

Thursday, September 1

Durham, N.C.

7:30 P.M.

Duke University

4-1-0, 0-0-0

UCLA

4-0-0, 0-0-0

UCLA

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 2 Duke Falls, 2-1, to No. 3 UCLA at Koskinen

9/1/2022 11:03:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)CHURCH INTERVIEW GALLERY

DURHAM – In a top-three matchup at Koskinen Stadium on Thursday evening, third-ranked UCLA registered a second half goal en route to defeating second-ranked Duke, 2-1. The Blue Devils suffered their first loss of the season, dropping to 4-1, while the Bruins improved to 4-0.

How It Happened
•   UCLA nearly got on the board early at the 7:01 mark as Reilyn Turner took a pass in the middle of the field and had a one-v-one chance against Duke goalkeeper Ruthie Jones. Turner tried to lob a shot over Jones' head and it was saved.
•   The Bruins took a 1-0 lead at the 11:46 mark as Jayden Perry connected on a penalty kick, after Turner was taken down in the box.
•   After UCLA controlled most of the first period, Blue Devil graduate student Mackenzie Pluck entered the match in the 26th minute and made her presence felt quickly as Duke started to control the ball more.
•   At the 38:22 mark, Duke was able to even the score, 1-1, with some great passing around the box. Pluck found graduate student Delaney Graham on the right side of the box and she crossed a perfect ball to sophomore Michelle Cooper, who finished her 15th career goal.
•   UCLA held a 6-3 advantage in shots at the end of the first half, while Jones tallied a season-high two saves.
•   Just over eight minutes into the second half, freshman Carina Lageyre took the ball away from a UCLA player and then Cooper found Pluck on the left side of the box. Pluck blasted a right-footed shot at the far post and Bruin keeper Lauren Brzykcy made a leaping stop to her left.
•   The Bruins were able to regain the lead, 2-1, at the 61:43 mark off the foot of Turner with assists from Lexi Wright and Quincy McMahon.
•   Duke had opportunities late off the legs of Cooper and freshman Kat Rader, but Krzykcy made key stops on her way to finishing with a career-high nine saves.
•   For the match, Duke outshot UCLA, 11-8, as the Blue Devils held an 8-2 advantage in the second half.

Notes
•   Duke scored the first goal on UCLA this season as the Bruins had outscored opponents by an 8-0 ledger in the opening three matches.
•   Michelle Cooper has now registered a point in 18-of-22 career matches with the Blue Devils. She has also scored in three straight matches.
•   Mackenzie Pluck now owns 24 career assists and is five away from moving into fourth place on Duke's all-time charts. She has a goal and three assists over the last four matches.
•   With her 90 minutes played on the night, graduate student Delaney Graham moved into eighth place on Duke's all-time minutes played list with 7237:02 minutes.
•   Duke fell at home at Koskinen Stadium for only the eighth time over the last 65 matches.
•   The Blue Devils have scored a goal in 18 straight matches, which is the fourth-longest streak in school history.
•   Freshman Carina Lageyre came off the bench and played a career-high 59 minutes.

Quotes
"Disappointing to start off the game. We talked about coming into the game we wanted to be very, very aggressive on our front foot and we didn't. We let them be the aggressive team. They attacked us and tossed us around for a little bit. That was probably for me the most disappointing thing. When you have two teams like this you cannot waste 20-25 minutes. I thought we played pretty well after that. I thought we got a hold of the game, but we threw minutes away and the game got shorter."

"It is a great game to play. Congratulations to UCLA. We would all love to play that game again. The second half I thought we were really good and much better, but they scored the goal. Give them credit." – Duke head coach Robbie Church

Next Match
The Blue Devils will hit the road this weekend for another tough contest against sixth-ranked TCU on Sunday, Sept. 4 in Fort Worth, Texas. The contest will be aired on ESPN+ with an 8 p.m. (ET) start.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".

#GoDuke