Duke Blue Devils women's soccer

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.[2] Hempen was assisted by Carla Overbeck,[3] 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.

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[4] as a captain. This team went on to win the world championship.

In 2001, the Duke Women's Soccer program received a new head coach, Robbie Church,.[5] Church was assisted by Overbeck and Billy Lesesne,[6] who had coached with Church at Vanderbilt. Previous coach, Bill Hempen, took a new job with the Colorado Buffaloes.[7] 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.

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.[8] 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,[9] 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.

2019 Roster[16]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Brooke Heinsohn 2 DF Natalie Maurer 3 DF Taylor Mitchell 4 DF Remi Swartz 5 MF Sarah Piper 6 DF Caitlin Cosme 7 MF Sophie Jones 8 FW Tess Boade 10 MF Olivia Erlbeck 11 MF Julia Burnell 12 FW Marykate McGuire 13 FW Emmy Duerr 14 MF Julia Hannon

No. Position Player 16 MF Sydney Simmons 17 MF Ella Stevens 18 DF Karlie Paschall 20 MF Mia Gyau 21 MF Sarah Miller 22 DF Delaney Grahm 23 GK Holly Stam 24 MF Mackenzie Pluck 25 GK Mackenzie Coles 26 GK Ruthie Jones 27 DF Natasha Turner 28 MF Lily Nabet

Updated August 13, 2019[17]

The following alumni of the Duke Women's Soccer program received NSCAA All-American honors:[18]

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.[18] 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 (1997), Casey McCluskey (2005), and Cassie Pecht (2012). At least 22 players received ACC All-Freshman honors, and at least 24 more received All-ACC honors.[18]

In 2012, Natasha Anasi was a semi-finalist for the MAC's Hermann Trophy.[19]

• Samantha Baggett – (1994–1997)
• Sherrill Kester – (1996–1999)
• Kristy Whelchel – (1996–1999)
• Rebecca Smith – (1999–2003)
• Þóra Björg Helgadóttir – (2000–2003)
• Rebecca Moros – (2003–2006)
• Allison Lipsher – (2004–2007)
• Kim DeCesare – (2009–2013)
• Mollie Pathman – (2010–2013)
• Christina Gibbons – (2013–2016)
• Rebecca Quinn – (2013–2017) – Currently with OL Reign
• Imani Dorsey – (2014–2017) – Currently with Sky Blue FC
• Morgan Reid – (2014–2017) – Currently with Orlando Pride
• Kayla McCoy – (2015–2018) – Currently with Houston Dash
• Ella Stevens – (2016–2019) – Currently with Chicago Red Stars