Duke Blue Devils women's soccer


The Duke Blue Devils women's soccer team represent Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I women's college soccer. The team was founded in 1988. The Blue Devils have won the ACC regular season championship three times. The team has advanced to the NCAA Women's soccer tournament 23 times, including 3 College Cup appearances.

History

1980s

Duke Women's Soccer was established in 1988 under head coach Bill Hempen, who was a Duke Men's soccer coach prior to this position. Hempen was assisted by Carla Overbeck, a previous player at UNC Chapel Hill. While at UNC, Overbeck remained unbeaten for four seasons, and won four national championships. Dukes first two seasons were successful ones. The team won 10 games in their inaugural 1988 season, and followed that with 14 wins in 1989. The two seasons had a combined 1–4–1 ACC record and the team did not make an NCAA Tournament appearance in either season.

1990s

The 1990s began with a similar story of out of conference success, but ACC struggle. The Blue Devils only managed one ACC win each season in 1990–1992. However, in 1992, the team finished as runner up in the ACC Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In their first ever NCAA appearance, Duke made it all the way to the final, only to lose to North Carolina. This began a string of six consecutive NCAA appearances for the team. The Blue Devils also notched a then program record 17 wins in 1992 and 1994. The streak of NCAA Tournament appearances ended in 1998, when the Blue Devils failed to qualify for the tournament after a 7–11–2 season. During this stretch the team never advanced past the second round in the NCAA Tournament, but did win double digit games in each year. The decade ended with a return to the NCAA tournament and a 13–10–0 season in 1999.
In 1999, while coaching at Duke, Overbeck played in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup as a captain. This team went on to win the world championship.

2000s

In 2001, the Duke Women's Soccer program received a new head coach, Robbie Church,. Church was assisted by Overbeck and Billy Lesesne, who had coached with Church at Vanderbilt. Previous coach, Bill Hempen, took a new job with the Colorado Buffaloes. The transition would prove a difficult one, with the Blue Devils winning 9 and 8 games in Hempen's first two seasons. In 2002, Duke missed the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in 11 years. However, the lull would not last for long. 2003 saw the team win 14 games and start a new streak of NCAA appearances. The following year, 2004, the Blue Devils won 15 games and reached the NCAA Round of 16. The team reached the NCAA Tournament for the remainder of the decade, and reached the Quarterfinals twice, in 2007 and 2008. 2009 proved to be a down year with the team finishing 8–9–4 and only reaching the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

2010s

The decade began with a run to the NCAA Round of 16 in 2010. 2011 proved an even better season. The Blue Devils set a new record for total wins in a season with 22 en route to the NCAA Final. However, they would fall short to Stanford in the final. 2012 and 2013 also saw runs to the NCAA Quarterfinals, but the 2013 campaign only yielded 9 total wins. In 2014, Lesesne left Duke for a head coaching job at Georgia, and was replaced by Erwin van Bennekom. 2014 proved difficult, as the Blue Devils had their first losing season since 2009 and ended a spell of eleven straight NCAA Tournament appearances. However, 2014 would prove to be just a blip. In the 2015 season, the Blue Devils women's soccer team made a run to the final of the Women's Soccer College Cup, which they lost to Penn State by a score of 1–0. 2017 saw the team set a program record for total wins with 23 and ACC wins with 10. The Blue Devils made another run to the College Cup. This time they lost to UCLA on penalties.

Facilities

The Blue Devils play on Koskinen Stadium. The Koskinen is also home to the men's soccer team, along with the men's and women's lacrosse teams. The stadium was dedicated in 1999 in honor of John and Patricia Koskinen. The stadium can hold around 7,000 fans. Kennedy Tower is a new addition to Koskinen Stadium. It was recently dedicated in 2015 in honor of Chris and Ana Kennedy. Chris is the Duke Senior Deputy Director of Athletes. The Kennedy Tower, offers press boxes and hospitality suites to the top of Koskinen Stadium. The teams' locker rooms are in the Willam David Murray Building. The Duke Football team used to use the Murray Building from 1988–2002. Then the men's and women's soccer and lacrosse teams moved into the building. It houses the training room and weight room for all other Olympic Sports teams.

Seasons

Personnel

Current Roster

2019 Roster

Team Management

Updated August 13, 2019

Honors and awards

NSCAA All-Americans

The following alumni of the Duke Women's Soccer program received NSCAA All-American honors:
NameYear
Natasha Anasi2011, 2012
Kaitlyn Kerr2011
Rebecca Moros2006
Carolyn Ford2005
Sherrill Kester1999
Andi Melde1997
Kristy Whelchel1996
Kelly Walbert1993, 1994, 1995,
Jennifer Lewis1992

ACC honorees

NSCAA All-American alum Kelly Walbert was also named ACC Player of the Year in 1995; All-American Andi Melde received this honor in 1997. Casey McCluskey was named ACC Offensive Player in 2004. Carolyn Ford was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, and Natasha Anasi in 2011.
ACC Rookies of the Year from Duke include Isis Dallis, Casey McCluskey, and Cassie Pecht. At least 22 players received ACC All-Freshman honors, and at least 24 more received All-ACC honors.

Other honorees

In 2012, Natasha Anasi was a semi-finalist for the MAC's Hermann Trophy.

Duke in the Pros

Duke has had a number of players reach various professional leagues after their time at Duke. In the 2016 professional season, there are several Duke alums playing in the NWSL. Rebecca Moros, a Duke graduate in 2006, is playing in her 1st season with the New York Flash. During her time in the NWSP, she has also played with the Portland Thorns and FC Kansas City. She has also played in Japan as well for Kobe Leonessa. Mollie Pathman, who graduated from Duke in 2014, is playing for the Boston Breakers, entering into her 3rd season. Kim Decesare will be playing in her 2nd season with Sky Blue FC, after graduating from Duke. Decesare also played a season in Sweden with Eskilstuna United DFF. Natasha Anasi, who graduated in 2014, is playing for IBV of Iceland.

Notable Alumni