No. 1 Seed Duke Opens NCAAs by Hosting Howard Friday

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Match 18
Howard (11-4-5) at #1 Duke (14-2-1)
Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 - 6 PM (ET) – ESPN+
Durham, N.C. (Koskinen Stadium)
ESPN+ Talent: Chris Edwards (PXP)

NEED TO KNOW

The No. 1 seeded Duke women's soccer team (14-2-1) opens its 2024 NCAA Tournament campaign Friday, Nov. 15 by hosting Howard (11-4-5) in the first round at 6 p.m., inside Koskinen Stadium.
Friday's contest will be aired live on ESPN+ with Chris Edwards on the call.
Duke is making its 29th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and enter as a top-16 national seed for the eighth time out of the last nine seasons. It marked the first time in Blue Devil history the squad was the No. 1 overall seed.
The Blue Devils will return home after playing four out of the last six matches on the road. Duke owns an 8-0-1 ledger in Koskinen Stadium this season.
On the season, Duke has scored 54 goals by 13 different players. Eleven Blue Devils have totaled two or more goals. Duke has also scored two or more goals in 12 out of the last 13 contests.
Robbie Church announced on July 22, 2024 he will be retiring at the end of the season and Duke will be promoting associate head coach Kieran Hall to head coach in 2025. Current assistant coach Carla Overbeck will move to associate head coach in 2025 as well.

STORYLINES/OTHER BLUE DEVIL NOTES

In NCAA Tournament matches being played in Durham, N.C., the Blue Devils boast a 28-3-1 record. Duke has won 12 straight opening NCAA matches played in Durham, N.C.
Duke is 20-3-5 all-time in its opening match of the NCAA Championship, including a 15-1-4 mark in the first round since the tournament expanded to its current 64-team format in 2001.
The winner of Friday's first round match will face the winner of the LSU (9-8-3) versus Texas Tech (14-4-2) contest on Friday, Nov. 22 at the higher seed.
Duke features a 45-23-11 overall record in 28 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils have won eight straight opening matches in the NCAA Tournament and has not dropped a match in the opening round since 2009 on the road.
Duke currently features an 8-win turnaround from a season ago, which is the second-biggest win difference nationally this season and the tied for third-longest in Duke history. Stephen F. Austin owns the best in 2024 with a 12-win improvement.
Mia Oliaro has scored or assisted in nine out of the last 10 matches. Her nine-match streak ended in the ACC Semifinals, which tied a Duke record by Casey McCuskey (2004).
Blue Devil sophomore Mia Oliaro (2, 11) fifth year Ella Hase (T4, 9), and junior Devin Lynch (T4, 9) all rank in the top four of the ACC in assists and top 17 nationally.
Duke has scored 54 goals the last 16 matches, while the Blue Devils scored a total of 15 goals a season ago in 16 contests.
The last time the Blue Devils dropped a season opener was in 2017. Duke went on to win 19 straight after the loss and made an appearance in the NCAA College Cup.
Duke was shutout in the season opener for the first time since 2014, which was also a loss to Ohio State (1-0).
The last time Duke head coach Robbie Church dealt with a losing season was in 2014 and the next year he led the Blue Devils to the 2015 NCAA College Cup.

THE SERIES WITH HOWARD

Duke and Howard will meet for the first time in program history.

SCOUTING THE BISON

Howard (11-4-5) earned the NCAA invitation for the third time in program history, after defeating FDU, 2-1, on Sunday to win the program's first Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament title. The Bison have been led on the season by NEC Coach of the Year Brent Leiba, NEC Defensive Player of the Year Rachel Suttle, NEC Midfielder of the Year Samantha James, NEC Goalkeeper of the Year Trinity Knox and NEC Rookie of the Year Gabriella Garcia-Terrell.

DUKE VERSUS THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE

Duke has never faced a Northeast Conference opponent.

HEY, I KNOW YOU!

Duke sophomore Kaeden Koons-Perdikis played club soccer at Bethesda Soccer Club for several years with Howard's Leah Williams, who is one of her best friends, and Laila Cowsette. Koons-Perdikis and Cowsette played the dual center backs together on their Bethesda team for several years. Asia Mickens-Perez was on Koons-Perdikis U18/19 Bethesda Soccer Club team as well.
Howard assistant coach Ellis Pierre was Koons-Perdikis head coach on her U18/19 Bethesda team and has a mentor and trainer to her for many years. He was the Director of Coaching at Bethesda Soccer Club when Koons-Perdikis started playing travel soccer at five years old.
Senior Kelly Wilson played for Bethesda Soccer Club where Pierre was the coach. Howard head coach Brent Leiba and Howard assistant coach Nadir Moumen were also Wilson's coaches at McLean H.S.

IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Blue Devils are competing in their 29th all-time NCAA Championship and hold a 48-24-11 overall record in 83 tournament matches.
The Blue Devils are 41-17-10 under Robbie Church in the NCAA Championship. He has led Duke to the big dance in 21 of his 24 seasons in Durham.
Duke has advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Championship nine times over the last 13 seasons (since 2011).

NCAA QUARTERFINAL APPEARANCES SINCE 2011
Rk           Team     Appearances (last)
1.            Florida State       11 (2023)
2.            Duke                     9 (2022)
3.            Stanford               8 (2023)
                North Carolina   8 (2023)
5.            UCLA                     7 (2022)
6.            Virginia                 6 (2022)
                Penn State           6 (2023)

PLAYING AT HOME IN THE NCAAS

Duke will look to capitalize on one of the best home-field advantages in the nation provided by Koskinen Stadium on Saturday.
The Blue Devils boast a 68-14-10 record at the venue since the start of the 2017 campaign.
Duke has outscored its opponents 43-5 at home this season. The Blue Devils have totaled 36 goals at home this season and the school record is 40 from 2017.
Duke is 28-3-1 in NCAA Championship matches played in Durham.
Mia Minestrella owns a team-high six goals at Koskinen, while Mia Oliaro and Maggie Graham have five each. Devin Lynch has totaled four on the year.
Duke is averaging 4.0 goals per game at home this season and has scored three or more in eight of the nine matches.

ROBBIE CHURCH ENTERS FINAL NCAAS

Duke head coach Robbie Church will be competing in his 21st NCAA Tournament with the Blue Devils and 22nd overall as a head coach.
He owns a 41-17-10 ledger for a 67.7 winning percentage in those games.
Church has collected an impressive 30-3-1 record in NCAA matches played in Durham. Duke has outscored opponents by a 92-18 ledger in those matches.
Church's 22 NCAA appearances rank ?? nationally behind Anson Dorrance (42, North Carolina), Jerry Smith (34, Santa Clara), Len Tsantiris (31, UConn), Steve Swanson (29, Virginia), G Guerrieri (28, Texas A&M), Jennifer Rockwood (25, BYU), Tony da Luz (23, Wake Forest), Nikki Izzo-Brown (23, West Virginia), Robbie Church (22, Duke), Paul Ratcliffe (22, Stanford).
Church's 42 NCAA Tournament wins ranks eighth among all-time coaches.

DUKE VERSUS THE FIELD

Duke features a 6-2-1 record against the NCAA field in 2024 -- North Carolina (2-1), Virginia (1-0), Ohio State (0-1), Wake Forest (1-0), California (1-0), Stanford (1-0) and Notre Dame (0-0-1).
The Blue Devils' 54 goals on the season ranks fourth among teams that made the NCAA Tournament -- Arkansas (65), Utah State (62) and Florida State (59).
Former Duke standout Jane Alukonis led her Southern California squad to a No. 1 seed in 2024, which is her first as a head coach.

NCAA DEBUT & NCAA EXPERIENCE

After collecting an impressive career in goal at both Duke and Oregon, fifth year Leah Freeman will make her NCAA Tournament debut this week. After playing 81 career contests in college, the 82nd will be her first in NCAA action.
Hannah Bebar has competed in five NCAA Tournament matches and notched one goal and two assists over that span at Harvard. Her squad wasn't able to get past the second round during her time with Harvard.
Ella Hase helped lead Northwestern to the round of 16 in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Junior Farrah Walters and her Santa Clara squad advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two years.
Katie Groff (2020-21, 2021, 2022), Nicky Chico (2020-21, 2021, 2022), Maggie Graham (2020-21, 2021, 2022) and Devin Lynch (2022) were a part of Duke's NCAA runs earlier in their careers.
Carina Lageyre will also make her NCAA debut as she was injured as a freshman in 2022 when Duke made its run to the NCAA quarterfinals.
Mia Oliaro appeared in the NCAA Tournament a season ago with North Carolina playing in all four contests and advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals.
Duke has 11 freshmen and sophomores that will be taking part in their first NCAA Tournament.

GOALS PER GAME ENTERING NCAAS

Duke is averaging 3.18 goals per game entering the NCAA Tournament, which is the highest average for the Blue Devils in program history.
The previous high for goals per game entering the NCAAs was 1989 (3.05), 2004 (3.00), 2012 (2.74) and 1994 (2.71).

LAST TIME OUT

Duke dropped a 2-1 decision against eighth-ranked North Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC Championship on Nov. 7.
The loss was the first since the season opener at Ohio State and snapped a 15-match unbeaten streak for the Blue Devils.
Duke had scored two or more goals in 12 straight matches as well.
The Blue Devils did collect a first half goal for the fifth consecutive contest.
Duke allowed two goals for the second straight match and have given up seven of 13 goals allowed on the year over the last four contests.
Cameron Roller connected on the first half penalty kick, after Ella Hase was taken down in the box.

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No. 1 Seed Duke Opens NCAAs by Hosting Howard Friday

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Players Mentioned

Hannah Bebar

Nicky Chico

Leah Freeman

Maggie Graham

Katie Groff

Ella Hase

Kaeden Koons-Perdikis

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Devin Lynch

Mia Minestrella

Mia Oliaro

Cameron Roller

Farrah Walters

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